An intervention at the east side of the walls of Chania.Diploma project 2013

Intervention at the east side of the walls of Chania An Architecture School on the Edges

Diploma Project School of Architecture National Technical University of Athens

Students: Andreas Alygizos, Georgios Koronaios Supervisor:arch@hotmail.com Bouki Noukaki-Babaloy March 2013

geo-

C ontents

1.0

The City of Chania

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1.1

City Development

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1.2

The city today

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2.0

Venetian Walls_History

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3.0

Concept Idea

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4.0

Masterplan

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4.1 A Platform

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5.0 The Architecture School

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6.0 Plans

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1.0 The City of Chania

... Ancient Years._1ist milennium

... Venetian Domination

...End of 19th century

...1950s

Today

1.1 City Development The current diploma project focuses in the relation between the city of Chania in Crete with its walls which is problematic, and proposes a way to improve it. The Venetian Walls of Chania along with the moat area are forming a clearly visible zone in the urban grid which signifies the spatial separation between the old and the modern city.

This zone is a strong edge which despite some efforts for incorporation in the current grid by constructing a few public buildings, is occupied by secondary users that undermine their historical importance.

Especially the east side of the walls is in bad condition. The disconnected bastions, the abandonment of the embankment and the occupation of free spaces from cars, weakens whatever tendency exists for enhancing the Venetian walls.

Observing the map, it can be seen that commercial uses are gathered in the centre of the city, having as reference point the building of the municipal market of Chania, in the wider area of which are ending all basic city roads. The majority of the shops and shopping centres is located outside of the old city in the area with the name of “New Commercial Centre�.

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The city today

1.2

_ Iniitial Analysis Main roads City centre accesses Built-Unbuilt Main uses

In the old city dominate touristic uses and entertainment zones, while housing is restricted mostly in the main hill of Castelo and the eastern side of the old town.

The discrepancies in the uses patterns reinforces the separation of the city on either sides of the walls. This separation is also enhanced by the topological and morphological characteristic of the buildings and the generic urban structure.

Finally, the differentiation between the two parts of the city (the old and the modern one) are making more intense the zone which is constituting by the Venetian walls, the embankments and the moat, the character of which is unclear and misty.

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Embankment

Buildings

Ground Slopes

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The Venetian Walls_History

The walls constituted the city boundary by the end of the 19th century. From that moment and after, the city starts expanding, and the walls are breaking down in order better communication between new and old parts of the city to be possible. Thus, in the southern side the wall is deconstructed, and the moat is filled with its parts. Later in that side starts the construction of large scale public buildings like the municipal market, schools, and a conservatory.

During the dictatorship around 1970’s, Crete Hotel is built over the southeastern bastion which has a close but controversial relationship with the

2.0

existing walls. In the eastern and western part of the walls, smaller pieces are gradually deconstructed in order new roads to pass from there, however the moat and the embankments are preserved in the same levels. The largest area of the moats has been given to secondary uses like courts and parking.

The embankments remain as unused green spaces within the city however they are misused due to their height difference with the city level. For that reason, seem to be abandoned and left without maintenance, an image which supplements the continuous downgrading of the Venetian walls as a complex.

Moreover buildings without any authorization or control are being constructed over the embankments. So, in total the zone of the moat and the Venetian walls has taken a secondary use in the City of Chania, functioning more as an obstacle which prevents the communication between the two parts of the city rather than an historic monument that should be restored and highlighted.

Parking Empty Spaces Commercial Education Cultural Uses Park-Playground

Land Uses

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Connecting the parts.

Concept idea diagram

3.0

Concept Idea_ Main Proposal

In a first stage, a holistic understanding of the presence of the Venetian walls and the moat is necessary. Thus, it can be seen that those two, form a zone easily identified as a boundary between the old and the modern city. In some spots, their unity is broken, as an effort of connecting either parts of the urban grid, either by incising roads or by adding supplementary uses in the resulting spatial gaps of the historic complex.

Therefore, several parts of the walls remain untouched, however unused, and create a series of dead zones or green spaces without visitors while due to their morphology cannot be accessed by the city level.

A big contradiction is formed. From the one side a complex which carries on it the historical and topological importance of centuries and from the other side the city’s attitude and policy towards to it. A characteristic case is that of the east moat of the walls. In it, the north-eastern bastion and south-eastern bastion are included, along with the bigger preserved linear part of Chania walls today. As other similar spaces, so the east moat is occupied by extended parking spaces and unformed green spaces.

Our approach is an attempt to unite all the individual parts of the remaining walls, by creating a wider green space- municipal park and a public path which reinforces the surrounding uses and the start and endpoints of the whole inter10

vention.

Th

e ch Ar ite ct c es ur ho Parking

moat

Public Space

Main Building

Park- Playground

Open public space

Thematic park

Th ea tre

ol

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4.0 MasterPlan

Masterplan 0

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Sectioon A-A’

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Τομή γ_γ’

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4.1 The Platform This particular structure constitutes a spot intervention which is placed in the point where the main linear part of the wall meets the north-eastern bastion, called Sabbionara. In that point, during ancient years there was a small entrance to the inside town, which is still visible. That entrance is particularly significant since it was the main gate for supplies in times of siege. One of its basic attributes is that the access was from the sea, where with the help of a temporary platform the supplies were taken to the inside town. As an attempt to highlight that historical role of the space, which now is difficulty perceived by the human eye, a new platform is proposed as a place of isolation and reflection for the visitors. The platform waits to be discovered by the traveller, in order to offer him the calmness that the space offers, a few centimetres above the level of the sea, and hearing the sound of the waves. For this reason this structure is attempted to be hidden and is not highlighted as other spot interventions.

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The Architecture School

5.0

Building’s Concept Idea

The initial idea for the building design comes from the basic characteristic of the wall its linearity. Therefore, four solid walls are created parallel to the wall, and are moving away from each other creating zones in between, until the desirable volumes are established. The resulting zones differentiate in terms of use, access and size. Where it is needed the uses are extended in a second level. Then, specific volumes are subtracted creating atriums and inviting natural light to enter every single space, reducing so the electricity demand.

Several different spatial qualities are created in response to the use of the adjusting spaces. Moreover, natural ventilation option is enhanced. In the final step, the roofs are tilting respectively, whereas low planting is placed. This has a double meaning: firstly to simulate the natural ground of the embankments nearby and secondly to add a further permanent layer of insulation to the building and protect it from the increased solar gains.

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Use Diagramm

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S re ch st o au ol ra nt

La o b de l

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S w tu or d ks en pa t ’s ce A th m ea ph te i r

br ar y

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S w tu or d ks en pa t ’s ce

Te a of ch fic er e s’

A th m ea ph te i u r L a lpt b ure

S cl ec as o sr nd oo ar m y s M ai n cl as sr oo m s

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c of ret a fic r y e ’s

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Te a of c h fic er e s’

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6.0 The Architecture School_ Plans

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