Natasa Lekkou profile born in 1991. raised and lived in Athens. undergraduate architecture student in National Technical University of Athens. I spent 6 months in Valencia, the first experience of many to come, since post-graduation plans include working and studying abroad. Among future aspirations, further experimentations beyond architecture are included, such as graphic, product and furniture design. Quite creative and open minded I am always looking forward to exploring myself during variet opportunities. I have recently presented my diploma project titled From public to private investigating the application of mainly in-house activities to the public space, working on finding necessary and yet qualified spaces of privacy in the cityscape of Athens. This project best expresses my current state of mind regarding the role of architecture in social envolvement.
contact Iereos Kontou 5, Marousi, 15125, ATHENS 0030 6947195334 2106127755 natasalekkou@hotmail.com https://issuu.com/natasalekkou
skills photoshop. illustrator. indesign. 3d studio max. rhino. office word. autocad.
languages Greek. mother language English. profficiency level Spanish. level B2
education 20092016. 2014 20072009.
School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens 6 month movement via Erasmus programme to Architectural School of CEU Cardenal Herrera, Valencia, Spain 4th High School of Amarousion degree: 18,2
professional experience // side projects // volunteering 2015.
May
2015.
October
2015-.
graphic design and promotion of the architectural workshop Operative Territories in Chalkidiki, collaboration with NPO Urban Transcripts member of the organising team of Site Effects - 22 proposals exhibition, held in the Visitors Center of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center associate member to the NPO Urban Transcripts, based in London
2014.
volunteer at the architectural workshop Hellastock 2014 Architectural Experimentation Towards an Ephemeral City
2014.
project assistant, graphic design and promotion of the architectural masterclass Thessaloniki in the Extremes at A.U.TH. in collaboration with NPO Urban Transcripts product design, graphic design and promotion for personal website Horse and Baggie
August
October
2014-.
workshops // exhibition 2015.
participation in Site Effects - 22 proposals exhibition, material from the masterclass Urban Design 9 - The new “portal” of Athens
2014.
participation in urban masterclass Taller Infraestructura Verde Urbana Valencia TIVU 2014 at CEU Arquitectura, as well as in the proposals exhibition TIVU14 EN TRÁNSITO international masterclass 2nd iWeek 2014, Architecture, Design and Technology, participation in design studio Dancing Body at CEU Arquitectura, Valencia international architectural workshop Porto Academy 2013, Anne Holtrop studio
October
March
2014.
February
2013. July
2013.
October
international masterclass Volos in the Extremes at the Scool of Architecture, University of Thessaly, Greece
competitions 2016.
international competition Sleeping-Alternative designs for hotels by Non Architecture Competitions
2015.
international student competition 120HOURS 2015: Experimental Preservation: The case of Pyramiden greek national student architectural competition for the Visitors’ Center of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
May
February
2013.
i n d e x alone among others diploma project *originally presented as “From private to public” in collaboration with Marisa Daouti February, 2016 *extra:
take your time competition “Sleeping. Alternative designs for hotels” by Non Architecture Competitions diploma project material in collaboration with Marisa Daouti April 2016
nightscape urban design and theory, “City, Landscape, Archive” course, 9th semester in collaboration with Christos Montsenigos September, 2015
tesselate urban design masterclass “Urban Design 9 - the new sea entrance of the city” in collaboration with Marisa Daouti September, 2014
data metabasis theoritical thesis July, 2015
a l o n e
a m o n g
o t h e r s
formations of intimacy to the public space of Athens The diploma project “alone among others” discusses the notion of “public” and tries using architectural vocabulary and design tools to interpret the context and explore the limits of the contemporary Athenian public space. Considering the public as the common and what is in broad daylight, whereas the private as this which takes place at home, a personal and innermost act, the study attempts the disorder of this contractual separation, mixing activities that we are used to do at home, into the public space, aiming through this paradoxical amalgation, the prolonging of our stay in the “outside”. Spaces of sleep, baths and toilets are studied as urban equipment that plans to fill empty spaces of the outdoor potential, on a permanent or ephemeral basis. In a dysfunctional background, like the one of Athens, where public space is awkward and many times dangerous, a design strategy is articulated that aims to investigate the terms of a possible reversal of the current view and experience of public space.
e p h e m e r a l c o n s t r u c t i o n s serve temporal events or emergency cases foldable for easy and fast storage and set-up lightweight objects (max 150 kg) materials: wood, plastic, metallic details small area requirements can be installed in all types of public space df(streets, alleys, sidewalks, squares etc)
urinal
shower
hammock
t e m p o r a r y c o n s t r u c t i o n s permanent installations in public space each construction can be multiplied based on dfspecific formation rules light constructions can be easilly detached and reinstalled in case dfof acceptance or use failure materials: wood, plastic, inox metallic surfaces, dfperforated metal, concrete panels larger areas requirements can be installed in squares, parks, green spaces
bed
toilet
shower
the bed
the bath
the toilet
CONFRONTATION with the city two placement examples
Koumoundourou Sq
Klafthmonos Sq
*
extra t a k e
y o u r
t i m e
The project suggests a step-back from the hectic life of the city, from the contemporary lifestyle of restrained social relations. That means that the space of sleep should be understood as an extended place of relaxation and reflection that differentiates from luxurious facilities and stuck-up hotel rooms. The idea is to bring back the act of sleeping outside as an opportunity to connect with the city, with the society and yourself. Inspired by Nietzsche’s “Denkraum�, the structure is a place where one can be alone among others, able to find social spaces and privacy inside a unified common space. The garden, the inner space of the pavilion represents the intimate and private, while the wooden deck is a common living space, where the social interaction takes place. The entrance is located on the ground floor, so that the traveller reaches the facilities directly from the city level. Firstly, he/she encounters the private bathroom and the stairs that lead to the sleeping area on the upper floor. There, each traveller is prompted to explore and experiment with the tools given by the design, making him/her the immediate moderator of his/her personal space.The limits between spaces are liquid, the temporary sense of territory, the one that makes us feel like home outside home, is achieved not by means of property or money exchange, but by the personal interaction with it. The central part of every personal space is the bed, a big hammock that you choose when you book and hang yourself adapting the width and the height from four metal columns. The hammock can be sliced to the side liberating the space that is defined by the four metal columns, that along with two tall hanging semitransluscent curtains that form a corner shape, offers a three-sided visual isolation. A part of the wooden deck functions as a personal storage and relaxation space. Two underground storage boxes can be used to save luggage and personal items, and another one that is equipped with electrical plugins, can also be converted to a deck chair and a multi-use surface. Finally, a foldable waterproof sheet is located on top of the sleeping areas to protect from weather and the sun.
hotel:
n i g h t s c a p e
Without consisting central nor everyday spaces for the citizens’ lives, archaeological sites are considered as sites ought to be conserved and respected. Such guideline is supposed to be a governmental as well as a social issue, as part of a catholic national conscience. Through this maintenance procedure, archaeological findings of any kind are automatically being submitted to a hyper-protection state. Museums, as the dominating cultural freezers of our era, were constructed for safeguarding findings of inmeasurable value. The specialized science of archaeological penetration, cultivated throught the years a valuating system, by which an empty spot in an archaeological museum could be filled up with this item, instead of that one. Ancient Agora is definitely a designed space. The unquestionable value of the inveteracy of a site, such as Agora’s, submits the place to a regimen of isolation. Enclosure, visit hours and enforcement of a general “do not touch” attitude. Our main purpose being “redefining” this valuating system, we are respectively attempting to create a full-time experience of this Agora, the encouragement of meetings and the return of the thrill, using the controversial means of illegality.
cityspeeds
reading We started off by completing a first “reading” of the area. First we focused on the alternation of the frequencies of the city’s speeds, noises and crowd densities. Secondly, we analysed the topographic and geographic characteristics of the site, which frecuently compose clearings and spots of clear, long visions along the area.
soundscape
crowd density
glances
directing/ decision Trespassing a protected area through a hidden pass creates a distinctive relation of intimacy between the trespasser and the site. The place is experienced outside its normal regulations and gives itself to the offender as a virgin conquest. The Value of the place is being multiplied. On the one hand entering illegaly is a risk and on the other that risk is being rewarded by a unique night experience in Athens’ Ancient Agora. In maintaining the personal and discrete character of a violation, we directed a procedure of scouting seven new hidden portals to the Agora, giving birth in a way to our very urban
myth.
“During night
hours nobody gives a damn about obeying the rules. �
outside We reached the perimeter of the Agora in order to detect its vulnerable zones, the most sensitive spots of the fencing, that would be ideal for our “trimming�. Firstly, to the spots were access is actually possible but difficult, some railings are being removed, in places which are already hidden by the vegetation and can only recognized through the
sence of touch.
Secondly, we choose a few more spots of the fencing were we are carefully replacing the metallic railings with flexible rubber manikins. Again, these can only be perceivable through touching.
ways of trespassing
1
find the railings that are missing. climb.
2
find the fake railings. hold. open. enter.
1 2 3
7 new portals to the Agora
inside We are looking forward to design an alternative guide of illegal access when the lights go out. Therefore, by this being the only way in which we are interfering to the inside of the Agora, we are designing a lighting network with the installation of small bright tiles to the ground, in a way that will soflty enlighten, but never betray, the existence of night meetings. The tiles are placed in a way that are brightening the paths towards the exits, and at the same time amplifying the atmosphere of the penumbra, pointing out small little details that are rarely being captivated by a visitor during the day.
We are facing a phenomenal situation, of an almost private and pers
sonal condition occurring to the very heart of a common public place.
t e s s e l l a t e
The main design gesture, the material renderig of the limit between the area around the SNFCC and the “old town”, aims to take advantage of the counter action of this critical and contestable point of the weaving of old and new. Starting from the meeting point with Syggrou Avenue, and while embracing the “new situation”, meaning the huge constraction of the new Opera house, the long bar ends at the seafront with a mild decrease in height. The loose knitting of the volume itself, which splits into two parallel bars that follow a common path, maintains the permeability, intensifies thw visual contact and enhances, both conseptually and spatially, the interaction of both sides. On the main volume, which displays the most privileged conditions, residential uses are placed, eith a variation among permanent and temporary, while the ground floor and the area to the front, are designed to recieve the public activity, such as meeting places, public transport stops, shops and other utilities aiming to be used both by the local residents as well as the ecpected guests of the SNFCC. The design of the residencies (6 typologies) takes advantage of the view to the sea or the Acropolis (depends on the side they are facing) regarding the living room, kitchen and working spaces, while private spaces (bedrooms, WC) are placed facing the inside of the two bars.
wall
SNFCC
sea masterplan
old city
wall new city
diagrams of apartments system Acropolis
1 each apartment has a view and access to a semi-outdoor space
seafront
2 big appartments have ac-
cess to big semi-outdoors. accordingly, smaller apartments exit to smaller semioutdoors
3
the zones of one-storey and two-storey appartments are alternateted in section in each bar
section
The wall of houses extends as a unifying linear element fr
rom the old town, through the SNFCC park, to the seafront.
section up: one-storey apartment underneath: two-storey apartment
apartment types | plan
1
2
ground floor
first floor (entrance)
wall model
masterplan model
wall model
d a t a
m e t a b a s i s
the crowd in conditions of uncertainty ‘Metabasis’ is the using of an assumption of a science in order to prove a theorem in another one. It is considered a quite dangerous proceedure at which one should be precausious, according to Aristotelis. Using <entropy>, the numerical measure of the uncertainty of an outcome as our first element, multiple ‘metabasis’ are being intended as an attempt of deepening in the issues of large sets of i nformation. Occasioned by Big Data, we are looking the Chaos and Order dipole, through the lens of information theory entropy, adjusting this dipole to diverse ‘datasets’ or systems. Physical studies, Social structures, Art, Architecture. Could their structure be triggered by conditions of uncertainty?
the birth of social sciences
â&#x20AC;&#x153;the systems whose componets have the tendency of acting as a group, often show repeated characteristics, even if it seems like they have absolutely nothing in commonâ&#x20AC;?
informational entropy
Claude Shannon
the measurement of the predictability of the proximal state of a system
information
predictable
partially predictable
as informational entropy increases, the amount of information increases too
unpredictable
wisdom of crowds and big data systems “a group of people can become really smart, even smarter that the people included individually. what is needed is diversity, independence of opinions and a mechanism for transforming personal judgement to decisions of common interest” since the “liberation” of the internet and the possibility of more, different people inserting informations to the web, the entropy of the system increased
web 2.0
entropy
entropy and social systems
entropy in humanistical studies is used as the measuremet of the ordenation degree of a system. We could assume that high entropy is similar to chaos-anarchy and low entropy is similar to orderfasism. the most sufficient way of measuring entropy in a social system is seeing it as an “autopoetic system”, which is constantly recreating itself in order to deal with the incoming information info info
society info
=
autopoetic system
tyranny of the average
in order to achieve â&#x20AC;&#x153;orderâ&#x20AC;?, the easiest way of managing crowds and living life in balance, multiplication is the fastest way. in modern times, being average wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just a matter of physical dimensions, but also following the most democratical, fair and just human prototype - the average man.
What is wrong with our society today, is that it s
average in architecture
in architecture, the two basic human models, Le Corbusiers Modulor and Neuferts “Architectural standar” is summerising the propotions as long with the needs, basic postures and habits of all human beings, leading us to the “basic dimensions” for design, an exclusive design for the average person.
standardization in design is the simplest way of providing order, organisation along with efficiency and low cost quantity. creating identical copies of a model means great deal of “certainty”, as the outcome is absolutely expectable, and so this means a low level of entropy.
stopped questioning itself. Cornelius Castoriades
disorder
order
Creating order is not the only way of creating structures
“ The time has arrived to announce [...] ‘the end of definition of the human being as a social being, defined by his or her place in society which determines his or her behaviour and actions’ .
”
ZYGMUNT BAUMAN