Kostas Papadimitriou MArchD year 1 re think Athens by Kostas Papadimitriou

RETHINK ATHENS: An alternative perspective of the urban life in a season of crisis

FINAL RESEARCH-LED DESIGN STUDIO PROJECT PORTFOLIO P30036 Research-led Design II

Submission date: 2/5/14

Konstantinos Papadimitriou 13091529

[Table of contents]

THE PROSE

p.5

INTRODUCTION ARGUMENT METHODOLOGY PROJECT DESCRIPTION THE SITE THE SCENARIO NO PROTAGONISTS

ACT 1: The mechanism

p.21

ACT 2: The structure

p.29

ACT 3: The expansion

p.39

ACT 4: The details

p.53

ACT 5: The End

p.69

References

p.78

[THE PROSE]

[INTRODUCTION] In the summer of 2013 an international design competition was held in Athens. “Rethink Athens” had the purpose of redesigning one of Athens’ central roads in order to better the urban life of the financially broken Greek capitol. As an assistant to the Greek counterpart of the winning entry I had the chance of personally reviewing the design proposal before its submission. Intriguingly, OKRA (the Dutch practice that won the competition) was claiming that the outermost goal of their scheme was to create a landscape under the concept of the “thousand theatres”. (https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn2GZ2Kvf5k)

The concept of the Athenian theatre as the core for a nearly utopian regeneration scheme has had a major influence in my design rationale. Considering narrative driven architecture a major factor in utopian architectural scenarios, I decided to focus my research on theatrical narrative and its implementation in an architectural project. The object of my study was the ancient Greek comedy Birds. The comedy was conceived and introduced to the Athenian audience in 414B.C. by Aristophanes, the most famous comical writer of the ancient era, and belongs in the genre of the Attic drama (or Attic Old Comedy). As such, Birds is a comedy whose objective is to make the city dwellers reflect critically upon themselves and upon the appeal of imaginative elsewheres (Bevis 2013:11).

Proposal submitted by OKRA for “Rethink Athens” competition

The reason for choosing to examine a comedy is the fact that in Birds, Aristophanes uses the notion of utopia as a medium of critique on his fellow citizens’ desires and ideologies, most utopian and utopian-like visions present a transformed version of everyday life, which has already been achieved without taking under consideration the process through which this version occurs. The reader (or in the case of an architectural interpretation, the viewer) is taken to an alternate world that everything flows smoothly but –as in the case of a dream- it is not clear how he got there and what is going to happen next. On the contrary, the aristophanian comedy is dealing mostly with action and sequence. Aristophanes presents the creation of his ideal flying city through a provocative narrative that gradually reaches its climax as the plot unravels.

[ARGUMENT] Upon completing the study of the Birds, I developed the following argument: “If a comical narrative portrayed through a theatrical performance results into us being able to perceive a complicated form of Utopia, it is then implied that Theatre and perhaps Comedy are mediums of portraying notions that cannot be otherwise understood. Is it possible to use (a similar) narrative in order to formulate the concept of an Architectural project?” Also, according to the Birds, the notion of Utopia can also be implemented as a medium of critique. If used as such, then an architectural speculation can obtain unique qualities that can lead to not only a proposal towards a better reality but also (like the Birds) allow for a critique of the ideas that fuel this reality.

Depictions of Aristophanes’ bird city

[METHODOLOGY] Thinking about the narrative for my design project, I looked at examples that inspired me to engage in such an architectural interpretation of reality. In specific, I reviewed the project “The emperor’s palace” by Thomas Hillier as it was the reason I started wondering on architecturally narrated stories. Since Hillier was a former student of Cj Lim at the Bartllet, I began investigating the latter’s methods regarding narrative, architecture and collage. In the preface of Lim’s book “SHORT STORIES: London in two-and-ahalf dimensions” the author presents his work as an investigation of narrative form in architecture, depicting a London that is peopled with both real and fictional elements from a variety of sources.(Lim 2011:7) Equally, the thematic intent of his book appropriates ideas, tropes and characters from pre-existing critical thinking in the fields of architectural representation and narrative structure.(Lim 2011:7) Lim’s aim through his work is to raise critical thought. He quotes Neil Leach’s passage from “The Anaesthetics of Architecture” where Leach mentions that “the intoxication of the aesthetic leads to an aesthetics of intoxication, and a consequent lowering of critical awareness. What results is a culture of mindless consumption, where there is no longer any possibility of meaningful discourse.”(Leach 1999: viii; Lim 2011:10-1) Critical awareness is also the key in Aristophanes’ work. As mentioned in the introduction of the dissertation “Birds is a comedy whose objective is to make the city dwellers reflect critically upon themselves and upon the appeal of imaginative elsewheres.” (Bevis 2013:11)

Hillier’s Emperor castle. A woodblock landscape by japanese ukiyo-e printmaker Ando Hiroshige, inspired Hillier to replace hiroshige’s characters in this project with architectonic metaphors set within Tokyo’s imperial palace. The princess, a flexible diaphanous memebrane, frantically knits herself in the hope of reaching the grass perimeter of the Cowherd, only to be prevented by the emperor, represented by a collection of breathing origami lungs. The emperor’s army using a complex system, demands that the knitting begins again and again and articulates the manipulations. Here architectureemploys narrative to examine current cultural and social issues in Japan: uncoditional piety, a relentless work ethic and conservative attitudes of love. (Borden 2009:65)

The story taken into consideration is the occupation of Syntagma square in Athens from May 25th, 2011 till the early December of the same year. My attempt will be the reading of that story in a manner similar to Aristophanes’ Birds. What is worrying though, is the difference in the degree of abstraction between Aristophanes and CJ Lim’s methods. According to the dissertation, “…A critical analysis of the play should focus on the elements that make up for this complex and contradictory image of the city of the birds and reveal the processes through which they have been implemented in the narrative while coexisting harmonically within a fantastical whole.(Konstan 1995:32)As Edwards observes, the “mimetic conception obscures the genesis of the text, its production, the processes of composition occurring in a social and political context.” (Edwards1990:54)

It has to be pointed out though, that these elements come from a specific cultural context and –quite reasonably- symbolise of social values that are by nature complex to define. According to Volosinov: “The domain of ideology coincides with the domain of signs”(Volosinov 1973:10), while Frow remarks that the sign “signifies only by virtue of a social consensus, and […] where this consensus is founded on social relations which are contradictory, the symbolic order is necessarily involved in this contradiction.”(Frow 1986:64) Aristophanes reworks symbols of mythical and social value into a narrative, in a manner that his story becomes a reality so vibrant that it could perfectly exist. Indeed, as I state in the conclusion of my dissertation the city of the Birds is real, as it is a metaphor of what the city and society of ancient Athens have become over time. If we also take into account the statement of Konstan that”… If the Birds are a political drama, this does not mean that they are a –perfect- imitation or a reflectance of the political condition of the Athenian city-state of 414 B.C. In this sense, there is no actual historical referent, a world “out there” (Konstan 1995:32). It is safe to assume that the play can read on its own. This means that the degree of abstraction allows for it to stand as an autonomous creation that does not have to be in constant juxtaposition with the existing reality. Lim and Hillier on the other hand take an already known story (a fairy tale or a folk story), or a ritual (like the Victorian afternoon tea drinking) that allows the viewer to read through their collages, but their creations are always referring to a very specific fact or place that always relates back to both the elements of the story/ritual and their architecture. I decided to use Lim’s techniques and implement the essentials of the Birds in order to create a metaphor that will portray, more dramatically, what happened not just in the protests of 2011 but the total of the events from 2011 until today. In specific, my decision is to take elements from the existing reality (like Lim and Aristophanes), implement them into a narrative and develop the story even if the elements I’m using do not all relate to a specific allegory, as it happens in the Birds. In Aristophanes, the combination of myths and rituals (the story of Tereus and the Titans) is just a part of the narrative and not the main argument towards a potential allegory. Part of the main difference between Lim’s and Aristophanes’ narrative methods lies in the fact that while Lim is always leaning towards the obvious, in Aristophanes there is not a definite outcome and the allegories of his narrative through the symbols he juxtaposes are only possible to trace after the play has been presented.

Lim’s London short stories 2.5 dimensions collage

[PROJECT DESCRIPTION] During the last 5 years the political and economic context of Greece has dramatically transformed. On May 25th 2011, Syntagma square was occupied as a statement of political protest by the indignant citizens of Greece. Protestors started manifesting in the social media and soon were organised into a large group. People from all over the country kept gathering together regardless of their social class and political belief. As the police did not enter the square, the result was a minor community that settled there for a period of 4 months. Despite being ineffective in its attempt to change the political situation, this gesture had a great symbolic value. People of different backgrounds and ages united, formed a community and lived together supporting each other. Their frustration due to the economic crisis led them to this type of protest as an expression of opposition to the governmental decisions. The design project will be a structure, which the citizens of Athens will construct and reside upon in order to protest against their corrupted government. The process of the structure’s construction and disassembly will be the outcome of a design scenario that interprets the events of the past years in order to form my project’s brief. Interpreting the events into a scenario is due to committing to Aristophanes’ narrative technique and its play’s timeless values. Reproducing the scenario of the Birds would automatically mean that the events are forced into proving that the play is still contemporary. Yet, if the principles of the narrative are kept during the conception of the scenario this would lead to creating an alternative version of the events happened and thus fulfil the purpose of this design project which is portray critically and from an architectural standpoint the past, current and future situations.

Phodographs depict the happenings of May-december 2011. People of all ages and backgrounds engage in a manifestation of their opposition against the government. Activities range from rave parties and drug use to public speeches and clashes with the Special Forces of the police. All photographs are taken from Eirini Vourloumi’s on-line archive, found online here: http://www.eiriniphoto.com/#/greece/athens-protests-2011/ riot021

The reason for choosing to portray the happenings of 2011 in that manner is the outcome of the overall protests. While in their prime, the manifestations were appealing and most considered that an actual change would occur. During the first weeks, popular TV personas and comedians were supportive of the scheme and advertised the campaign urging individuals to join the protests. Unfortunately, due to lack of organisation and political manipulations, the situation ended in a riot. The most hard core protesters and several anarchists collided with the police forces and the event ended within a few days. Tax man’s shoes Central Tax Office

What followed was a period of harsh economic measures in the form of taxation and salary decrease against young professionals, public employees and pensioners in order for the economy to recover according to the standards of the IMF. People lost their belief regarding their ability to affect the political situations, while most opposed to what happened during the last months as a farce on behalf of those who had nothing better to do than vandalise the city centre.

Mural “Sold.” Former building of Ministry of Employment

Meeting room, Historical Gentleman’s Club

Since then, the major feeling in the country is that of pessimism with a characteristic lack of hope for the future, while the various members of the political parties even though are accused of deceit from their voters, seem indifferent to the overall context. In deed although the income reduction was applied to every public servant in the country, politicians still enjoy a great salary as compensation for their political duties. As a result, homelessness and unemployment have risen to unprecedented percentages and day by day young and middle-aged individuals flee in order to seek employment or study abroad.

Reception, Communist party headquarters, KKE

Rise of Homelessness The economic cirisis in Greece has resulted in 25 percent increase in homelessness. At the main food kitchen in Athens, 3,500 people a day come seeking food and clothing, up from about 100 people a day when it first opened 10 years ago.The unemployment rate for men 30 to 60 years old has spiked to 10 percent from 4 percent since the crisis began in 2008. Greeks from white collar backgrounds are now finding themselves unable to support their families and many are foced into homelessness. (http://www.eiriniphoto.com/#/greece/rise-of-homelessness-ongoing/homeless014)

[THE SITE] Site: Syntagma Square and the Hellenic Parliament building, Athens, Greece. Latitude: 37058’31.52” Longitude: 23044’10.97” For this project, I have decided to select as my site the central square of Athens and the parliament building. The square is facing the parliament and is surrounded by a dense mass of buildings. As the site is actually the city centre, the buildings that surround it are luxurious hotels, bank departments, office headquarters of business corporations and central retail outlets. The square itself houses a series of cafeterias and the entrances to the central underground train station hub. Historically, Syntagma square, that actually means Constitution square, has always been the site for most of the public manifestations that have taken place in Greece for the past 50 years. Whether it is about festivities or political protests, the position and historical importance of the square are elements that all Greeks deem ideal in order to support and amplify the importance of any public statement. (http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/12/ en/1833_1897/domestic_policy/facts/04.html)

The circumference of the square is populated by streets with heavy traffic, while the parliament that is found on the eastern side is separated by a fortified perimeter that engulfs the monument of the Unknown Soldier and the chambers of the guards of the Special Forces. Behind the parliament are the royal gardens that allow direct access to the building. The whole complex was built in 1836-1847 in order to house kings of Greece until 1910 and in 1929 the building was converted into the headquarters of the Hellenic parliament. (http://www.hellenicparliament. gr/Vouli-ton-Ellinon/ToKtirio/Istoria-Ktiriou/)

[THE SCENARIO] For years, people of Greece have grown suspicious of certain actions happening in “the background” on behalf of their government. According to the project’s scenario, the corruption exists in the form of a secret underground mechanism connected to the infrastructural network of the city. The mechanism, located underneath the parliament chambers, is operated only by the members of the government who are also the only ones with a clear access to the control room. The mechanism allows its users to work in collaboration for their personal benefits in a context away from the procedural limitations of the Law. After years of misuse, the mechanism has expanded in size in order to maximise its efficiency in controlling the city. The machine’s mechanical arms that connect to the urban grid have become difficult to conceal and due to their increasing size have start to become apparent in areas of low built density. The ground of the Syntagma public square has started to deform and the mechanical tentacles appear in public. The citizens immediately confirm their suspicions and decide to act. They decide to fight the corrupted politicians with their own weapons and decide to build a structure that will use the machine’s arms as foundation. Essentially the structure will act as the initiative towards a new city and better society where there will be no trace of the corrupted politicians. The newly built structure floats above the square, the parliament and the other historical buildings around the site. It hosts a radio transmitter that broadcasts the indignant citizens’ protests against the government while casting its shadows over its surroundings in a gesture of public over political dominion. The reason behind this choice is the main demand during the riots of 2011. People requested for a model of actual democracy where citizens’ opinion is respected by the politicians. As the structure rises, more protesters join the riots. Contrary to the pioneers of the protests this second group has no actual reason to protest apart from their lust for anarchy and violence. The anarchists merge with the rest of the protesters and the structure expands by adding modules to its initial complex. While the structure rises and expands the shadow it casts becomes heavier and permanent. This allows for the corrupted members of the government to engage freely in their schemes as no one can witness their actions in the dark. The politicians realise that they need more shadow and manage to hack the system that levitates the structure.

Digital drawing, broadcasting station concept

The situation gets out of control. Most of the citizens have refuge on the structure that is now huge and the city is populated mainly by the members of the government and the other politicians. All those who have remained in the dark city are now almost blind due to lack of natural light, and those living on the floating structure cannot return to the ground as their lungs have adjusted to the high altitude conditions. The structure eventually disassembles and breaks apart as most people decide to abandon it and seek for another place to land in order to readjust themselves in normal atmospheric pressure conditions. Here, the several genetic alternations in the nature of the politicians and the citizens, serves a series of metaphors. The politiciansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; blindness represents their arrogance, and also serves as metaphor for blindness by lust for power and wealth. The citizens living in the heavens while on protest resemble the impossible nature of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dreams to change a situation that is beyond his powers and the price he has to pay as returning to reality is now a slow painful process. Moreover, the overall schema pays a tribute to the aristophanian wondering of being a human, while the differences that are now apparent between the natures of the politicians and the citizens underline the impossibility of the two to coexist in the same context even though both are considered to be fundamental parts of a society.

Digital drawing, corruption mechanism concept

[NO PROTAGONISTS] In Aristophanes Pistheteros and Euelpides, the two main protagonists, symbolise the average Athenian aristocrat citizen (Henderson 1990; Konstan 1995: 23) who lives in a context of litigiousness and philosophical duels regarding the attributes an ideal society should have and the morals people must adapt in order to better themselves and their city(Hubbard; Dobrov 1997:35). Thus for, their characters are ideal in serving a comical plot that touches upon the idea of the perfect city build by common beings under the leadership of an enlightened leader. However, in my project the protagonist is the structure that derives from the scenario. Even though, it goes without saying that architecture is indeed anthropocentric, it is also not negotiable that it is man-made or at least man- conceived. As such, architecture is expressed in the form of constructs that manifest ideas contrary to theatre where the manifestation of the concept is always through a person. Thus, actions and ideas are portrayed here through a construct that can be directly related to its creators and their intention, but also impacts upon a wider context that has to do with the symbolic value of the existing buildings of the site. In that sense, the relation developed between structures is by far more evident and efficient in communicating the communal public statement. Digital render, initial form concept for the floating structure

Digital render, initial form concept for the floating structure (view from the square)

[ACT 1: The mechanism]

Digital drawing, corruption mechanism concept plan view

Digital render, the corruption mechanism, perspective views

Digital render, corruption mechanism control room plan and side views

Digital render, corruption mechanism control room perspective / lower view of the mechanism

Digital render, corruption mechanism section in context. The mechanism supports the broadcasting station of the protesters.

[ACT 2: The structure]

Digital render, the expansion of the structure, planar views.

Digital render, broadcasting station, perspective view

Digital render, broadcasting station, perspective views

Digital montage, broadcasting station in context. The station is supported by the mechanism.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;PISTHETEROS: Ha! I am beginning to see a great plan, which will transfer the supreme power to the birds, if you will but take my advice.â&#x20AC;? (Birds verse 163)

Digital render, structuresâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; elevation in context. The mechanism supports the broadcasting station of the protesters.

[ACT 3: The expansion]

Digital render, the expansion of the structure, planar views.

Digital renders, the shadowing effect of the structure on its surrounding environment, perspective view underneath the built volume

Digital renders, citizens gather together in order to inhabit the structure, perspective view underneath the built volume

“EUELPIDES: But come, what is it like to live with the birds? You should know pretty well. EPOPS: Why, it’s not a disagreeable life. In the first place, one has no purse. EUELPIDES: That does away with a lot of roguery.”

(Birds verse 155-8)

Digital render, the expansion of the structure, perspective view

Digital render, the expansion of the structure, closeup elevation

“EPOPS: For food the gardens yield us white sesame, myrtle-berries, poppies and mint. EUELPIDES: Why, ‘tis the life of the newly-wed indeed.”

(Birds verse: 160-61)

[ACT 4: The details]

Digital / physical montage, interior spaces within the structure, plan view.

Apartment for a family of four Digital / physical montage and axonometric drawing, interior spaces within the structure

Mid-aged manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s room Digital / physical montage and axonometric drawing, interior spaces within the structure

Elder womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home Digital / physical montage and axonometric drawing, interior spaces within the structure

Young manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s room Digital / physical montage and axonometric drawing, interior spaces within the structure

Digital drawing, Close up on one of the structureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s components with material description, elevation and axonometric views.

1:20 Construction details on a potential component of the structure. The construction utilises the structural properties of a steel frame system in order to allow for fast erection of the structure and easy modularisation of the built volume. Accordingly, the walls are rendered mainly with concrete as its components can be easily found and it can be mixed in situ. Furthermore, the module implements a green roof system in order to allow for food production and vegetation as the structure is a completely artificial environment, isolated in its entirety from natural resources.

[ACT 5: The End]

Digital render, the disassembly of the structure, planar views.

Digital montage, the structure dissasembles as the citizens abondon it for the sake of a better place, perspective view.

Digital montage, closeup of a floating component, perspective view.

“EUELPIDES:...born of an honourable tribe and family and living in the midst of our fellow-citizens, we have fled from our country as hard as ever we could go. It’s not that we hate it; we recognize it to be great and rich, likewise that everyone has the right to ruin himself paying taxes; but the crickets only chirrup among the figtrees for a month or two, whereas the Athenians spend their whole lives in chanting forth judgments from their law-courts. That is why we started off with a basket, a stew-pot and some myrtle boughs and have come to seek a quiet country in which to settle.” (Birds verses 8-15)

[References]

[Bibliography]

[Illustrations]

Works cited directly in text:

All images were created by the author apart from:

Bevis, M. 2013. Comedy: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Lim 2011:7).

Image of OKRA for the “Rethink Athens competition on page 6 was found here:

Borden, I. 2009 Bartlett Designs: Speculating with Architecture. United Kingdom: Wiley & sons Dobrov, G. 1997 The city as comedy Society and representation in Athenian drama. USA: The university of North Carolina Press. Frow, J. 1986. Marxism and Literary History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p.64 in Konstan p.33 Konstan, D. 1995. Greek comedy and ideology. Oxford: Oxford University press (Edwards1990:54) Leach, N. 1999 “The anaesthetics of architecture” The MIT press, Cambridge, MA

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/hg8iDJuyjUA/maxresdefault.jpg (accessed on 29/4/14) Images of “The emperor’s castle” by T. Hillier on page 8 were found online here: http://www.evolo.us/architecture/urban-theatre-narrative-architecturebased-on-ando-hiroshiges-prints/(accessed on 29/4/14) Image of the collage by Cj Lim on page 9 was found online here:

Lim, Cj (2002) SHORT STORIES: London in two-and-a-half dimensions . London: Routledge

http://cantarch.com/cj-lim-public-lecture/ (accessed on 29/4/14)

Henderson, Jeffrey. 1990. Peisetairos and the Athenian Elite. In Gregory Dobrov, ed., Aristophanes’ Birds and Nephelokokkugia: Charting theComic Polis. Papers of the APA Seminar. Syracuse, NY: Trugedy Press p.8 in Konstanp.175

Photographs from Athens’ riots and other events on pages 10-14 were taken from Eirini Vourloumis’s on-line photography portfolio. The portfolio can be found online here:

Hubbard, T. 1991. Utopianism and the Sophistic City. In Gregory Dobrov, The city as comedy Society and representation in Athenian drama. 1997USA: The university of North Carolina Press.

http://www.eiriniphoto.com/#/greece/athens-protests-2011/riot003 (accessed on 29/4/14)

Volosinov, V. N. 1973. Marxism and the Philosophy of Language. Trans. L. Matejka and I. R. Titunik. New York: Seminar Press. p.10

The collage of the interior of the rooms on pages 54-55-56-58-60-62 was done from images found online. here: http://creative-collision.blogspot.co.uk/2013_02_01_archive.html (accessed on 29/4/14)

[Web:] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn2GZ2Kvf5k (accessed on 29/4/14) http://www.fhw.gr/chronos/12/en/1833_1897/domestic_policy/facts/04.html (accessed on 29/4/14) http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/Vouli-ton-Ellinon/ToKtirio/Istoria-Ktiriou/ (accessed on 29/4/14) http://www.eiriniphoto.com/#/greece/rise-of-homelessness-ongoing/homeless014 (accessed on 29/4/14)