Orthographic Section Collage
The museum consists of a playful layout of strict geometric marble volumes that “tear” the landscape, while all its spaces are underground. The visitor first experiences a sharp dip in darkness from a steep staircase and then begins a smooth gradual ascent to the light through the ascending floor and the size of the skylights.The first two rooms concerning the environment, while the next two host histroy exhibitions. There is also a lecture hall, administration offices, research laboratories and hostels, everything is illuminated through a patio. Upon leaving, the visitor comes up with a cafe full of light that offers panoramic view to the lagoon.
Exploring a city scenario where people are free from work, we imagined the operation of an underground city in a state of constant rave party. The concept is based on the four stages of the sleep process: TransitionLight Sleep- Delta Sleep- R.E.M. During the Transition, people enter a dreamy fluid architecture where they can live in places of common relaxation (Delta Sleep). The Light Sleep stage, related to learning and memory, are exhibition areas. The whole experience culminates when we pass to the REM Stages of Dreams (REM means Rapid Eye Movement) that is, endless party spaces with illusory architecture of fluid curved surfaces.
The rapid development of greek tourism, along with the obsession with local identity, has led to the constant repetition of certain elements of architecture that result in meaningless, tourist cliches, intertwined with wellness and exaggeration. Examples are the white aesthetic minimal, the infinity pools, the spas etc. The aim of the Studio was to redifine such cliches, towards a more solitary architecture. This proposal challenges the clicheé of the individual, unobstructed view from each room and ‘forces’ the coexistence of the occupants on the large roof. The view comes as a shared reward, after the ascent to the hotel. The underground caved rooms cover the minimum needs and the rest of the spaces, like baths, are common
Architectural Model photographies
Baths collage
Patio
Cohesive Section
In this course I tried to decode the elements of the cinematic atmosphere from the restaurant of the movie “The cook, the thief, his wife and her lover” directed by Peter Greenaway, in 1989. The restaurant is dominated by red color. A majestic high-ceilinged room with rich ornamentation, and many textures, all in shades of red, under low candlelight and in the background the painting by Frans Hals: “The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company”. An attempt is made to “architecturally translate” this filmic space into diagrams, drawings and collages.
Screenshots from the movie
Perspective collages
Screenshot from the movie
Perspective collage
Acknowledging the ecological and social crises of our time as resultants of the resource extraction and extreme consumption, this research thesis studies the issues arising from rising sea levels and tourism. More and more urban cities are being affected by the effects of global warming and floods, with serious consequences for human lives, properties and the environment. At the same time, postmodern society seems to devalue the problem, relying on overconsumption that gives birth to new forms of tourism, which are dangerous for the planet. The city of Venice embodies both sides of the problem, as on the one hand it is threatened by the high tide, or “acqua alta”, which leads to, dangerous for its survival, floods and on the other hand by the tourist tide that has turned it from a living city to a global brand theme park.
Selected Bibliography • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Baudrillard, J. The ecstasy of communication. trans.: V. Athanasopoulos. Athens: KARDAMITSA, 1991. (in greek.) Benjamin, W. (1935) The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. trans: D. Kourtovic. Athens: Kalvos, 1978 (in greek) Boorstin, D.J. The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. New York: Harper & Row, 1964. Davis, R. C., and G. R. Marvin. Venice, the Tourist Maze: A Cultural Critique of the World’s Most Touristed City. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California : University of California Press, 2004. Fletcher, C., and J. Da Mosto. The Science of Saving Venice. Turin, Italy: Umberto Allemandi e C., 2004. Jameson, F. Το Μεταμοντέρνο, ή η πολιτισμική λογική του Ύστερου Καπιταλισμού. Μετάφραση: Γ. Βάρσος. Αθήνα: ΝΕΦΕΛΗ, 1999. Koolhaas, R. ‘The Generic City’, S, M , L , XL. trans.: Y. Aesopos. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 1995. (in greek) Lefebre, H. «Right to the city.» in Writings on Cities, H. Lefebre, trans. E. Kofman and E. Lebas, 63-183. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. Lofgren, O. On Holiday: A History of Vacationing. California: University of California Press, 1999. MacCannel, Dean. The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. trans: Ε. Theodoropoulou. Athens: Scientific Publications PARISIANOU, 2013. (in greek) Urbain, Jean-Didier. At the Beach. U.S.A.: University Of Minnesota Press, 2003. Urry, J., και J. Larsen. The Tourist Gaze 3.0. London: SAGE Publications Ltd , 2011. Urry, J. CONSUMING PLACES. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 1995. Aesopos, Yannis. ‘I ekleipsi tou dimosiou chorou’ (‘The extinction of public space’). in Futura, the mind setting magazine (5), Athens: Futura Publications, 1998, pp.43-44.
From the second half of the 20th c. the frequency of “aqua alta” increased and Venice floods an average of 67 times a year, while at the beginning of the century only 5-7 times a year. 12 out of 22 exceptional high waters of the last 123 years, have happened in the last twenty years.The worst flood in the history of Venice was recorded on November 4, 1966. The water level reached 194cm and about 90% of the city was under water. Floods cause serious material damage to historic buildings. The increasingly salty waters of the lagoon penetrate the construction of the building, leading to wear, corrosion and cracks of the lower walls.
Venice, combining an exotic environment and a unique architecture is the dream of every consumer-tourist. The capture of typical images of the city and their constant repetition over the centuries has led to the consolidation of a visual code of symbols that serve the “Tourist Gaze” and that are used by businesses in their advertising. Symbols, even as individual depictions, cut off from the geographical environment, are enough to recall the idea of Venice. In 2009 a new phenomenon began, where huge billboards of the sponsoring companies began to appear on scaffolding from maintenance projects of important buildings. After global reactions, they were banned in 2012. The biggest danger that tourism hides, however, is the disneyfication of Venice itself. The former space of social dialogue, nowadays is a scene for consumption, and the social quality of the city is reduced to the monoculture of tourism. The city is recognised as a theme park and the urban space ceases to be a complete spatial experience and is repackaged in a user-friendly form, ideal for visual consumption (public space is experienced as individual moments from one “click” to the next).
Conceptual Collage of Mass Production of Cultural Heritage Monuments
Conceptual Collage
Symbols of Venice
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