Abstract Τhe present thesis focuses on the territory of Aggelochori as the threshold of the broader territory of the Gulf of Thermaikos. The designation of the local scale of Aggelochori unfolds within a broader problematic of the supra-local scale of Thermaikos Gulf, since it belongs in the same marine entity (matrix) where the same problematic of deterioration and alienation of users from the site is detected. The designation of the inherent features of the local site enhances the broader supra-local context. Our site is the coastline of Aggelochori from the border of the salt lake to the southern cape. Salt in its different states forms a collage of fragmented sites and images constituting a superposition of locations. In this circumstance we trace the absence of a “welcoming space” , a common place where the heterogeneity of users, materiality and moving subject will converge to another reality, a sui generis topology, a heterotopology where humans are in a state of absolute rupture concerning their conventional time. In this place, time is ephemeral and uncertain. Our analogue experimentation with the materiality of the site gave feedback to our digital, dual machine: the rizoma development and the salt crystallization process upon the former. Our machine operated as a springboard for the form to emerge. An ever changing pipe system which undergoes a constant process of birth, wear and death. The designation of submarine posidonia is accomplished by developing a pipe network, from which rizoma structures are shot inside and outside of the sea ending up on and inside the land. Fish and the aquatic life in general are given place to grow, expand and evolve as rightful owners of the sea. The fish and the fields constitute an ecology of mutual reliance. Hence our design intention concludes with an artificial submarine maze of pipes that repels human and attracts fish. Our intention is the inhabitance of the site from its users through a gesture of empathy enhancement from the part to the whole, triggering the optical, tactile, olfactory, aural and gustatory sensory centers. Our aim is a multidimensional experience of pleasure, relaxation, spiritual and somatic renewal and rejuvenation. The constant alternation of scenery in a year’s time and in time depth during periods of growth as well as periods of decaying, on a different degree each time, serves as a pole of attraction. The atmosphere varies, therefore triggers and intensifies the visitor’s interest offering him an ever-alternating experience. The same crystalline salt structure grows on and inside earth, lining an artificial underground cave. The inhabitance of the site from visitors (swimmers and fishermen) is supported by activities elaborated in an alternative way. Terrestrial crystalline surfaces support alternative handling of piscatorial raw material, like marination, curing and salt roasting. The artificial underground cave constitutes an architecture where the climate is in indissoluble connection with the earth and the substratum. A place to hide and protect against the relentless, summer sun. Its shell is lined internally with soil’s material (clay, sand, salt). There, a specific type of air is developed: cool, damp, fresh, coming from the inner of the earth as well as from the salt pipe network that lines the inner of the cave. The intense substance and character of nature itself triggered our design. Warm or fiery in summer and brisk or harsh in winter. Effervescent or sorrow, vibrant or dull, bright or dreary, full of movement or inertia. The embodiment of the site manifests its pluralistic character through a manifold of forms and forces. The form emerges as a telluric wave from and above the sea. The substance, the soil, the salt, the water, the wind, the soul. All come alive and provoke our awe. The result looks very appealing and very much alive, being under way, on the way in or on the way out, either assembled or disassembled. The form, rather amorphous, constitutes the sublime: forms of unfinishedness, with the same frayed profile: things are unfinished either because they are still under construction or because they were finished but are now undergoing a process of erosion of wear and tear. In short, they are young things and old things. They exhibit spontaneity as well as character. Flows of organization pass through the form, which is nothing but life. After all, life exceeds form…
Contents
//Introduction.....................................................................................................p. 4-11 //Experimentations Vol.1.......................................................................................14-17 //Machine............................................................................................................20-23 //Re-Inquiring the site.........................................................................................26-27 //Experimentations Vol.2......................................................................................30-44 //In Situ.................................................................................................................46-69
The ecology of Thermaikos is seen as a matrix, within which evolves and mutates dynamically the materiality of the territory, forming an heterogeneous social, cultural and financial context.
The designation of the local scale of Aggelochori unfolds within a broader problematic of the supra-local scale of Thermaikos Gulf. The same marine entity (matrix) where the same problematic of deterioration and alienation of users from the site is detected.
The salt lake has an important value, as far as the ecology and materiality at the area of Aggelohori. It works from 1902.
Salt in its different states forms a collage of fragmented sites and constituting a superposition of locations.
images
The heterogeneity of users, visitors, fishermen and aquatic life (fish and aquatic vegetation) creates focuses of tension and depression on a wide mesh that operates as a developmental matrix of social, cultural and financial relationships.
Salt grain functions as a point, to encrustation in which corridors are identified. Next material’s capability fills up the void creating patches that interweave and form membranes.
The concept of weaving forms crystalline structures. Every crystal constitutes a fragment. Many crystals interweave in such a way to form homogenous territories in a broader heterogeneous territory. Tessellations are identified that multiply, grow and form structures.
The conceptual machine depicts the incremental multiplication of salt upon the rizoma. Archetypical crystalline structures are attracted to the initial points of tension of the already set rizoma. The process of reproduction is achieved by Îą recurring process of accumulation and deposition of the new crystalline structures upon the previous ones.
_Radical differentiation of materiality in time. _Non periodic tensions and recessions on the relief map. _Intense, irregular variation of the site constitutes a necessary stimulus for the delineation and evolution of the finally intended dynamically mutative system. _The consistency of the soil in clay is high and in most year seasons lies in layers (stratas). _Sea water in supersaturation from the nearby salt lake plantation.
//The pipe network hosts human activities like fishing, sailing, marinating, curing, roasting and finally selling of fish on an annual basis. Also, attracts fish, establishing fish colonies in the submarine area.
// The underground cave promotes soul, mind and body healing
//The pipe network hosts human Îąctivities such as sunbathing, swimming, mud bathing and relaxation under the shaded space. Also, attracts fish, establishing fish colonies in the submarine area.