Athens x4
The contemporary Greek city is made up of some of the smallest urban blocks in Europe, with an accompanying dense network of small streets and incredibly narrow pavements.
The use of cars has taken over public space as a whole for either circulation or parking. The brief asked what would happen if we united four blocks into a new, bigger one prohibiting cars from the cross between them, and how we could imagine these new acquired public spaces in the shape of a cross.
Three scenarios were developed for different neighborhoods in the center of Athens. In the first one a catalogue of programs was developed as lines and points that can create endlessly varied combinations, according to each neighborhoods shortcomings. The second one proposed the crossing over of linear landscapes and playgrounds. The third one developed a strategy for appointing the management of the newly acclaimed free space to the corresponding residents. Each polikatikia assumes a percentage of the public space according to its size and number of residents, to produce a collective garden.
Status: competition – honorable mention
year: 2010
