Group: Kruthika Ganesh (Archaeologist) and Yasmin Baagil (Architect)
Kerameikos is the ancient gate of Athens. It is the gate where the Panathenaic procession took place in the past and marched towards the Parthenon to honor the goddess Athena. Passing from the Dypilon Gate to the northwest, Plato has established his academy and, therefore, archaeologists have named the 40-meter wide road by his name. The walls of the ancient city mark different stratigraphy of which the earliest dates back to the 4th century BC. Outside the walls, where Kerameikos is, a cemetery was found. Tombstones with decorations of flowers or human figures mark the graves as a gesture of appreciation for the dead and a competition to show their social status. Thus, the walls form a borderline between the city and the surroundings, the profane life and the sacred side, and the higher land of the gods and the lower lands of the dead. It becomes a liminal medium through which a transformation and a change happen.
The Archaeological Site of Keramikos; the Ancient Gate of Athens Master’s Degree Design Studio | Year I - Semester II
Entrance Building Ermou St. Ag.AsomatonSt.Theseio Park Theseio Station Café and SouvenirsPottery Workshops ObservationPlatforms ObservationPlatforms EventsCulturalStage PathwayWooden KerameikosPlaza TheSacredway The Street of the Tombs The Pompeion EridanosRiver Tumulus Tumulus Tumulus Moat Moat Graveyard The Dypilon Gate The potter’s neighborhood PlatosAcademyRoad developmentFuture Events Entrance Kerameikos Museum All work submitted in this project is my own production Bridge connection ExcavationFuture Conncetion Bridge
1) the crossing from the Hadrian’s arch near the Temple of Olympean Zeus (liminal by interruption) 2) Dionysiou Areopagitou street (liminal by interruption) 3) Ag Asomaton street (liminal by absence) 4) Ermou street (liminal by confusion) Bridging the Athenean Walk connecting Theseio park to a newly defined plazaRoad network and bridging/ connecting possibilities - redefining liminalities
The study analyzed the Athenian walk; the unifying plan of the city’s archaeological sites and marked the different aspects of liminalities along the path. The liminal space deprives the passenger of any sense of attachment. By definition, it is the space that separates two different mediums and through which the passing happens. The unification plan aimed at creating a large continuous archaeological park that includes the most significant historical landmarks in the city. The drawings show four states of liminalities in the walk and in all of them the “passing” happens and the link with the sites is missing.
The question of boundaries and thresholds is raised by the fact that the site is at a lower level than the contemporary city and is surrounded streets that does not necessarily atract the pedestrians attention to the very end of the athenean triangle; Kerameikos. Instead, it pushes the visitors subcosciously to the eastern side of Ermou street making use of the lively shopping center in that area.
Drawings of the liminal scenes (Right to left)
Mapping liminal spaces
The Site of Kerameikos in the liminal lens
There are two spaces that basically separate Kerameikos from the rest of the walk and are best described as liminal spaces.
The end part also does not define a connection with the Athenean most famous gate, rather, it ends in a “liminal” confused destination at Pireaus street heading to the southwest of the city. These points were the stimuli for the design proposal.
Bird’s eye view to the site | in Browish Red: the redefined belt around kerameikos, in Yellow: the ring road connected to the main entrance and defining the art stripe. Theseio park TheseioThestationmain educationalTumulus’dig The entrancemuseum’s Tumulus Tumulus riverEridanos PlatformObservation WorkshopsPotteryTheTemistoclean Wall bridgeConnection PlazaKerameikos The Pompeion Moat The GateDypilon The mainundergroundentranceThe Platformcultural Moat The quarterpotters The buildingEntry The residencyartists Ermou street
Entry
Entry building plan
The Museum’s section The Museum’s Ground floor plan The Museum’s first floor plan
The observation platforms around the site The Arts Stripe An observation platform over the Themistoclean walls Oriented viewing platforms and the connection with the largest tumulus The new excavation pit with the connection to the inner side of Kerameikos and the museum building section
The design proposal splits the site into two main themes; Artistic and Archaeological. The art stripe is defined along the ancient Themistoclean walls and emphasized by the ring road. It starts from the potters quarter, passes by the Pompeion, and ends at a cultural events stage. The open archaeological site will remain as natural as it is today with some defined paths to walk and educational “digs” dedicated to show slices of the Tumuli to the visitors. The points of interests are pointed at through the observation platforms.
Talah Alshami talah.alshami@gmail.com2022