Athens : Architecture of Integration

For the Spring Semester 2011, the lapa studio will continue its focus on the city centre of Athens. The Urban Constitutions (UCs) developed in the last semester, have now been ratified into a single document. The single UC addresses the critiques and comments of the individual work, and sets a series of priorities and goals for the next stage of the project – Architectural Interventions.

The work of the Spring Semester will be to develop different projects which follow the guidelines of the UC, and populate the urban landscape with various programmes. Each student will develop a project brief, will study its feasibility in the greater context of the UC, and then will develop and detail the architectural design.

Based on the guidelines of the Urban Constitution, the students will develop architectural projects as a “proof of concept”, testing the viability of the objectives and measures defined by the Urban Constitution. The overall theme of the projects will be “Architecture of Integration” – public institutions, commercial spaces, housing developments and other projects that foster the integration of immigrants in Athens. The development of the architectural project is structured into the following design phases: feasibility study, design development and presentation documents.

FEASIBILITY STUDY
During this phase the students are required to devise a project brief, choose a site within the Urban Constitution and prepare studies to assess the feasibility of the project within the set guidelines, which will furthermore lead the project development. The feasibility study should outline the current physical, infrastructural and legal conditions and restrictions of a site and develop a diagrammatic approach to assessing its compatibility with the program of the proposed brief.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
The design development transforms the diagrammatic descriptions of the feasibility study into a functional, logical and aesthetic design concept. The contextual issues of the site are addressed and solutions for issues of structure, materials, overall aesthetics and volumetric relationships are explored. Most importantly an identifiable architectural expression of the project is formulated, including expressive or appropriate details that guarantee a link between site, program and architectural expression.

PRESENTATION DOCUMENTATION
The presentation documentation describes the entire project from feasibility study to the final design and construction process. The sheer number of interventions allows extrapolating the final stage of the future shape of the overall site and the pertinence of the previously established urban constitution.

The goal of the semester is to develop a diversity of projects which will enhance the urban condition of Athens, and will contribute towards improving the quality of urban life, and to unravel the potentials of Athens.