D R . S T A V R O S K . S e l e c t e d w o r k s A r c h i t e c t
D E N D R I N O S
Dr. STAVROS Κ. DENDRINOS // ARCHITECT // ARB 079335C
a few words ..............................
Doctoral thesis “Movement and transitional spaces as the key aspects of the articulation of architectural concept, context and content. Abstract The aforementioned research field, as formed through my thesis, is aiming to highlight the prepositional movement of the human, the transition, as a primary element of the perceptual articulation and the notional record of architecture, ultimately as a primary element of the understanding of its identity but also of the “world” in general. As argued extensively in his thesis, our first experiences of the world originate from our movement in it, from our transition from a defined in terms of space and time position to another one. The movement defines our relations and our actions, our place in the world as a material or social environment. It is our medium to communicate with the others. Our direct experiential as much as our more complex cultural perception is structured based on kinaesthetic experiences. It is therefore attempted to validate the research hypothesis that through this deliberate movement we perceive and eventually understand the elements composing the “world” we are supposed to live in. This procedure, is directly correlated to the human need for habitat and is an expression of the human provision. The previous research undertakings presuppose the constitution of a basic theoretical and methodological basis. The theoretic validation of the axiomatic sequence of this basic reasoning constitutes the Part A of this research and spreads over chapters 3-4. As the main philosophical approach of the research is selected the phenomenology. We remind that the term “Phenomenology was introduced in philosophical literature in the 18th century by Johann Lambert (1728-1777) to declare the tutoring of perceptible experience.” It was later associated with the philosophical approaches of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, and also with that philosophical approach of Immanuel Kant, in which the two most important preachers of phenomenology were quoted directly or indirectly. Here follow the principles and axioms which comprise the main research in Part A. 1.The human being, as every kind of being, is associated with the notions of space and time. “Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) analysed the phenomenological dimension of the objects of experience, in contrast to the a priori character of the preconditions of the latter, meaning the forms of supervising time and space and the classes of mind.” 2.The movement of human in time and space is a process to recognise and distinguish the identity of the phenomena composing the image for the world. 3.Movement as a simultaneously physical and notional process is a vehicle for distinguishing and changing the phenomena which create the content and the image of the world. “In Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason we find a more extended reference on change and movement. More specifically: The meaning of change together with the meaning of movement is only possible through the presence of time. If such presence were not an a priori -internal- supervision, no meaning of change could exist i.e that would connect contradicting categorems in one sole object. Only in time it is possible to ascribe two contradicting denotations consecutively. 4.The expression of human provision during his/her movement within the world as a process of identifying and ascribing structural attributes to the phenomena which encircle him/her and which are being perceived through the senses, transforms this movement to a rational and intentional quest within the world. It transforms this movement to an eternal transition. “According to Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), the method of phenomenology is a description of the consciousness data in a protogenic and protoempirical phase, a phase during which objects are handled by the consciousness exactly as they appear as pure phenomena, independently of any reference to their causes, independently of any relevant emotional situations, judgements, analysis, to which there are related by the consciousness at a later phase.
Then, through the phenomenological deduction and the eidetic deduction, consciousness attempts to move to the aspect of the matter, to the understanding of stable and necessary structure of objects, which are paralleled by E. Husserl to the ideas of Plato. Phenomena are replicas and pictures of those ideas, objects that we understand through our senses. Standing between existentialism and phenomenology, M. Heidegger (1889-1976) connects the existence with time in his book Sein und Zeit (translated as Being and Time), which is using the phenomenological approach. Provision, or bio-provision replaces E. Husserl’s consciousness. 5. The meaning of spatial concept as entity characterized by the retention of the structural elements and meanings during the succession of points of time can be perceived only through the transition of the subject, a physical or notional transition.structure of any object is attempted”. E. Husserl goes up to the point to compare this fixed structure to Plato’s “Idea”. Does transition as provision is a search for the fixed structure of some elements of the world? Does being is present in the world through provision and rational movement, transition? Moreover, is the idea, the understanding and record of the structure a notional construction of the image of the world through the projection of its image to some of its elements? The argument of this thesis towards the aforementioned questions is affirmative. But it is an affirmative to questions posed through the approach of the phenomenology philosophical system. Being, time, provision, change, movement, structure, idea are the main tools of this thesis through the approach of phenomenology. But they are also the main issues we will deal with later. Although phenomenology has many times become the basis for theoretical discussions on Architecture, the close relation of being with time and provision (M. Heidegger) and in immediate relation with movement and change (I. Kant) was rarely a start of such theoretical searches. The methodological circumvention of E. Husserl’s consciousness, phenomenological deduction, and the evaluation of this process through provision (M. Heidegger) and transition, through the dipole change-movement (I. Kant), is an important element of this thesis. Part B of the thesis In the second part of the thesis we approach how all that elements, which are inseparable from the human nature, express the human need to understand the world and take action within it, to inhibit the world (in other words what we have described as provision), are expressed in architecture. During her/his transition, the rational and intentional movement within the world, the human creates structural correlations in her/his mind independently of inhabiting the natural or built urban environment. In this sense, architecture should serve this need in the best possible way. In other words, when my intentional movement leads me from one side of the city or the building to another, architecture should support this action having embedded it in the urban web or the building. However, this demand faces the counter argument that different users might not perceive and react similarly to given spatial sequences and structural complexes. That is why the second part of this thesis focuses on the analysis of architectural features, with the broader sense of habitation, and which we would dare to call not cultural ones. The concepts of position and easy orientation, of center and sequence, the dipoles concave-convex, light-darkness, rough-smooth, and the pursuit of features such as the presentation of the common and public and the concealment of the internal and introvert, or even more the reference of a community to a place of gathering or worship are only some of the features that we could argue that architecture of every shape and scale should use to activate the relationship of the human with the constructed environment. Another argument of the thesis is that what we call rupture of human and nature, beyond the amassment in supersized urban centers, is the difficulty to identify in an constructed environment the structural principles which fulfill the human needs for habitation and action within the world. Part C of the thesis Finally in the third part of this thesis, all those principles, structural relations and features are examined through a single example. In an effort to minimize the distance between intention and result this example is a result of personal composition in the N.T.U.A and crystallizes my intense pursuit of all the issues raised by this thesis.
Conference Public space .....to be rediscovered Paper “ The limits of public space in modern cities” Section: 2. Present Urbanism Abstract Led by provision, the human being is forced into an endless struggle to provide for the best possible living conditions. Only by moving, carefully observing and thinking, mostly in the way of organizing the observed, is it possible to approach the internal order that provides meaning to the world. However, movement in the modern cities appears to be mostly in terms of getting somewhere and coming back, regardless of all the in-between places or people that we come across. This leads to an era of a new perception that focuses on the short-lasting importance of everything. At this point the existential fear that the absence of place evokes, arises.
Modern cities are transformed into a series of points and directions. Any perceptual or structural element existing in the process of their creation or history is undermined or buried under the tracks of millions of people entering the underground or finding their way home from work. Therefore, the consistency of the city is deteriorating and it can no longer provide a network of places, “topos”, where human activities of all kind can unfold. On top of that the irrational growth of most of our known cities, even the new metropolies of the modern world, leads to an underestimation of the role of public space as the centre of community life, a “topos” where people meet, discuss, demonstrate, argue, fight, love, learn, have fun, sing, read, a place where you can express yourself in public and feel an active member of a society - a feeling that can provide new dynamic relations in between people and city areas, and bring back to the cities a new cultural, educational, historical and perceptual structure overcoming or underlining the tracks of the existing one. The growth of the cities without an overall scheme control degenerates the role of the centre and of its surrounding cores of public space, and leads us to a further search of the community life aspects of urban design. Following those thoughts, the essence of place, “topos”, as a site composition of points and directions in the “infinitive theatre of movement” into space, the junction of places through different roles of movement, the importance of limits towards a “concrete” urban structure will be the first elements of this approach. Bringing forward the perception of limits between “earth and sky” as an element of tremendous importance in the creation of urban hierarchy, we can state that limits provide the organic junction of the separate elements used in urban design. The role of open public spaces is vital for the redefinition of that hierarchy and for the creation of a network of services and actions that will allow the reactivation of urban centres and their integration into their inhabitants’ every day corporeal experience. The everlasting human need for the ideal city in terms of small coherent cores of social life is only possible today by the organic articulation of those kind of cores into large city complexes that are forced to evolve rapidly; an evolution procedure that is also needed to be radical and dynamic. The only way to invert the irrational and non systematic evolution of the cities is to carefully observe and then provide a new hierarchy in the existing and proposed city elements in such a way that each one of them can reveal their existent or hidden essence. It is time that we seek simple practices so that the coherent and dynamic character of the cities emerges through a new network of structural and social bearings; an essential network that will lead to the organic re-articulation of their parts. The approach that we are proposing is to focus on the manipulation of existing and the creation of new boundaries, in the sense of articulation and conjunction lines, movements and surfaces, which will clarify the hidden hierarchy of the city’s public open spaces and unfold a sequence of perceptual, kinaesthetic and social correlations among them.
This approach also examines its basic argument in two different scales of city structure, that of the coherent housing cores or neighbourhoods, that surround the centre and that of the large-scale city centre that will be considered as the basic organ of the city. At each scale we will examine three separate factors: the manipulation of horizontal and vertical boundaries that evoke the importance and essence of public open spaces, the manipulation of the boundaries of the buildings that surround and orientate them, and finally, the adjustment of circulation and movements as non-material boundaries that allow the rise of perceptional and structural bonds in the cities. To conclude, we believe that cities should be examined as a whole, but different approaches should be followed for different densities and different urban function areas. On top of that, as “space is always de facto filled - it is never without a body� buildings and open public spaces contribute equally to the true impact of urban space. Finally, movement and limits are the basic elements of perception and understanding of space and, therefore, our basic tools in our struggle to create living spaces through architecture. - Casey E.S., The fate of place.A philosophical history,University of California Press, London 1998 - Kirtsis A.A.,Konstantinos A Doxiadis.Writings,drawings,Ikaros editions, Athens 2006 - Hillier B.,Space is the machine,Cambridge University Press,London 1996 - Schultz,c.n.,Postiglione G, Sverre Fehn Work.Projects,Writings1949-1996,The Monacceli Press, New York 1991
International Achitectural Competition
Redevelopment of Ag.Sofias axis publicity // byzantine monuments// underground station
The basic concept of the proposal is the perceptual connection of time and space. The revelation of the hidden dimension of time and history of the city in space. It is our belief, that time and space in order to become objects of perception and thought, they have to be simultaneously present and each one solely determined by the presence of the other. So a system of elements is invented in order to connect conceptual experience of the monuments, buildings and statues of the given area with time and the history of the city. A timeline, a diagram of the evolution of the city of Thessaloniki, of its history and monuments revealed on a marked pedestrian path running across the whole area, caring information about the decisive chronologies of the monuments, the historic events that determined the character and specific elements of the city and the different eras that specific buildings represent. This path works as a means of rediscovering the specific area and with focused handlings, a means of creating a network of places around three major squares, that endures and enriches existing qualities in the axis of Ahiropiitos – Ag. Sofia. We believe that this idea can expand and can be the landmark of Thessaloniki as far as important archaeological sites, monuments and buildings are concerned, inviting people from all around the world to walk in a city that you can feel its history even without a guide. Furthermore, we intend to create here a linear park of different species of regional plants that combained with targeted bioclimatic politics, can reform this area into a sustainable field. A field that can improve the feeling of walking around the three squares and create an attractive area to calm down, to take part of a cultural or religion event, to shop, or to be a part of the cities nightlife. A low cost concept with a great impact.
Open city’s Archikids Arch -Innovative Competition THE BURROW- The spatial interpretation of a burrow. Based on Kafka’s short story, The Burrow, in which an unspecified creature creates an underground labyrinth of tunnels and chambers which becomes a de facto city for one individual, we will ask children to fabricate their own system based on the premise that they are mole-like creatures seeking comfort, security and protection. These children will be introduced to the possibility of thinking of their shelter as a second skin (a home) and also as a community endeavor that can be likened to a village or possibly city. They will be encouraged to furnish it with elements they think vital for their survival, whether on a practical level through creating functional spaces such as kitchens or bedrooms, or through artwork and decoration. The workshop organizers will allude to the solipsistic nature of Kafka’s creature and ask the participants to envision what this creature might look like and to describe the nature of the burrow. We will have the children consider questions which may reveal their philosophies of shelter, housing, community – thereby circumventing the metaphoric menace of this story – but revealing, nonetheless, underlying attitudes begun in childhood and which continue to influence the construction of our environment as adults. Types of questions we will ask the children to consider: • • • • • • • • •
Is this burrow for one or many? If many, how do you turn around, pass by each other, and share space? Does the shape matter? Does the size matter if it is for one? For more than one? What functions does the burrow have? – i.e. is it for immediate needs such as food/sleep/loo? or is it to keep other creatures out? Is there a climate inside? What happens with breath? Will it provide room for other functions? If so, what kind? Is it one burrow among many? Do others connect to it? Is it only a fantasy space? Can it be an imaginary space inside your head? Is it safe? Does it need to be protected? What makes it safe, or how would you protect it? Which is more important when creating the burrow – do you look from the inside to outside, or consider the outside the more important?
In practical terms, the project will be divided into three elements and overseen by three teams of adults: • Creation of the skin/shapes and decoration outside • Adjustments and decoration inside • Creation of the artworks and writings to be included both in the interior of the shapes and on an ‘artwork wall’ where reactions to the project are documented through a combination of writing and art work.
the site
selected works
i n t e r p r e t ao no fap l a c eo fi s o l ao n/ / j a i l t h r o u g has e q u e n c eo fl i mi t s v i s u a l i s i n gs p aa l d e p t h i nt h es e td e s i g no fS a l o me
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN packaging
EXHIBITION Pavillion for the Olympic gamesi // Project sustainable design
1.000.000 EUR
MUSEUM History Museum in Sparti // Project sustainable design 1.200.000 EUR
archi+architects
PUBLIC Ionian Naval Museum // Competition publicity // sustainability // interior-exterior transition 1rst Prize 9.500.000 +Arsis architects
OFFICES National Bank of Greece // Competition central offices 4rth Prize 18.500.000 Arsis architects
OFFICES Agricultural Bank of Greece // Project speed derived form// sustainability 8.500.000
concept diagram
1.000..000 EUR
PUBLIC City Hall in Egoni, Cyprus // Competition publicity // sustainability // interior-exterior transition Praise 17.500.000 Arsis architects
PUBLIC
Central Cyprus electricity offices // Competition open access areas// sustainable design// landmark Arsis architects
22.000.000
PUBLIC
Pireaus railway Station Conference center // Research function// sustainability // landmark Arsis architects
15.500.000
PUBLIC Cultural center in existing building // Project 10.500.000
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1a
2
2a
3a
1b
1c
2b
2c
3b
3c
RESIDENTIAL Family house in Athens // Built
4 - bedroom house//sustainable design 600.000 EUR
RESIDENTIAL Family house in Athens // Built
4 - bedroom house//sustainable design 600.000 EUR
Interior
Exterior
RESIDENTIAL Two houses complex // Built 2 x 3-bedroom houses //sustainable design 850.000 EUR
Interior Exterior
RESIDENTIAL Three houses complex & exhibition space // Built 2 x 3-bedroom houses + 1 1 bedroom 1.050.000 EUR
RESIDENTIAL Family house in Athens // Built
5- bedroom house//int.-ext.swimming pool 900.000 EUR
MIXED USE Appartments & shop complex in Nafpion // Built 27 appartments & 10 shops//sustainable design 6.500.000 EUR
MIXED USE Appartments & shop complex in Nafpion // Built 27 appartments & 10 shops//sustainable design 6.500.000 EUR
atrium-court
Exterior
Interior
RESIDENTIAL Summer House in Serifos // Project
4 bedroom family house//interior swimming pool 700.000 EUR
RESIDENTIAL Summer House in Pylos // Project
2 bedroom family house//artist’s studio 400.000 EUR
section diagram
HOSPITALITY
Notos Room Complex// Built 5 - houses complex 800.000 EUR
HOSPITALITY 5* Hotel Samohraki // Masterplan bungalows // spa sports facilities 4.000.000 EUR
HOSPITALITY 5* Hotel refurbishment // Built Arsis architects
1.000.000 EUR
HOSPITALITY
5* Hotel Macedonia // Masterplan rooms bungalows spa sports facilities 25.000.000 EUR
EDUCATION School complex for Autistic Children Sustainability + Arsis architects 24.500.000
SHOPS Jewelry Shop in Kifisia// Built 650.000
Interior
Exterior
SHOPS Pharmacy in Athens // project 250.000
Exterior
Interior
U RBAN Redevelopment of Ag.Sofias axis // Competition publicity // byzantine monuments// underground station Praize 12.500.00
U RBAN
Redevelopment of the coastal area of Athens // Project publicity // urban entertainment areas//sea limit// parking areas//re-using existing utilities Arsis architects 23.500.000
U RBAN
Redevelopment of the coastal Kalimnos island // Project publicity // urban entertainment areas//sea limit// parking areas//re-using existing utilities Arsis architects 48.500.000
LANDSCAPE
Water tank Square // Project community center// enviromental education centre// sustainable design 5.000.000
LANDSCAPE
Quarry remediation // Project artificial landscape // sports facilities// sustainable design// green house Ntua + Arsis architects 12.000.000
A c a d e m i c E x p e r i e n c e - s t u d e n t s’ w o r k s a m p l e s
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metallic perforated surface
+17,50 m
metallic scaffold for servers storage
+14,00 m