1997
'COLLECTIVE SPACES'
The west arch
competition - New
collective spaces in the
contemporary city -
Thessalonika - GR
international
competition
|
project start
date |
1997 |
|
location |
Thessalonika
-Greece |
|
promoter |
Organizzation
for the capital
of European
Culture -Thessalonika |
|
theme |
New Collective
spaces in the
Contemporary
City |
|
architects |
Marco Meozzi -
Massimo
Lastrucci - Luca
Piantini,
Architects |
Thessalonika, as the
European Capital of
Culture in 1997,
launched an
international
competition among
European architectural
and urban planning
professionals to work on
the theme of “new
collective spaces in the
contemporary city.”
The design proposals had
to have both an overall
urban philosophy that
tied the four sites
together (together they
constitute the West Arch
area, located in the
city's immediate
periphery) as well as
one or two detailed
projects for specific
sites.
Our project had the
following goals:
1-to transorm the four
areas under
consideration into poles
of aggregation both on a
strictly local level as
well as city-wide. We
wanted to confer a
highly recogniable
character to structures
endowed with a municipal
or territorial value.
This is the case of the
twin towers marking the
“gate to the city” as
well as the large
“piazza” below.
2-to create a connection
that would formally and
functionally unite all
the areas od the
project, so that they
would become part od a
single “arch” system
(from sea shore to sea
shore). In so doing we
deceided to favor green
pedestrain paths and
make an axis for a
metropolitan transport
line.
3- to requalify the
existing fabric by
eliminating the
interruption caused by
the ring road. We
proposed to put it
partially underground so
that the opposite sides
of the city as well as
the large pedestrian
arch would be integrated
into the area.
4- to emphasize the
empty spaces in contrast
to a city made up of a
dense urban fabric,
concentrating the new
volumes in containers
that would occupy a
minimum surface area,
favoring elevation, the
construction od
underground volumes as
well as the
reutilization of
pre-existing buildings.