Six Dogs Cultural Center
The transformation of five rival spaces into one unified operation was the opportunity to define and give clarity to a street in the centre of Athens.
A programmatic reversal takes place: five previously mono-functional, autonomous spaces in constant competition are transformed into one multi-functional space of complementary uses to create a cultural centre. The conversion occurs with the minimum of means and no additions. A very restricted budget, usually perceived as a limitation, became the inspiration.
The program changes across the space from gallery, café, gig/concert space to bar; this reflects a shift from daytime to nighttime use, bright to dark, vacant to dense space. This shifting is literally revealed through paint – each space is painted in a subsequent shade from white to black. The spaces are simultaneously unified and given individual identity. The unification is amplified by a continuous fluorescent strip of colour behind the façade and large communal tables that stretch across the whole street. The de-saturated spatial experience creates sharp contrast with the vibrancy and vigor of the hidden garden behind the building.
The intervention in the garden brought back the site to its original natural state; in a city that systematically builds up its fragmented natural remains, the 400m2 garden allows the operation of a busy café and night bar with few key actions that merge with the natural setting; a wooden bar and furniture plus simple light bulbs hanging from the trees makes for all the equipment , allowing for a rare sense of the ‘situation of nature’ that is so missing in the area. The garden becomes a place about space before human intervention, a place about the pleasure of nature and the appreciation of the void.
