OCTOBER 2012
Thesis' Defence at the Department of Architecture, Univ. Patras: Fedruary 2012
The new data which have been shaping Athens’ contemporary urban landscape, gave “fear” – one among the main, initiative human mental states – the opportunity to grow untrammeled. Disclaimer and repulsion for spaces, continuous introversion and vestigial social life into confined and limited spaces are supposed to be the main characteristics. The multiple reasons that led us here are profound and commonly accepted. Architecture itself is unable to deeply deal with the problems in order to present a satisfying solution / sug- gestion. As a matter of fact, it (ref. Architecture) already begun to embody the features of the physical persons or corporations that practice it in real scale. Furthermore, the constant turbulence which is taking place on the streets combined to the disturbing tranquil- ity and stagnation of citizens’ private spaces do justice to the great sci-fi authors of the previews century concerning the image of the future “metropolis” that they provided us.Each and every human disease has already been transplanted and adjusted to the urban matrix. Even the definition of “war” has been relatively altered, transforming cities’ roads into battlefields. As a result, we seem to experience the 19th century street fights partially customized for a new scenery and different enemies qualified with various deadly specifications.This kind of generated chaos and turmoil which – attached to city environments – are also defined as “urban terrorism”, forced hu- manity to come up with any inhibiting factors in order to cope with the newly created data. Accordingly, “urban survival guides” came across, providing us with the related knowledge, both practical and theoretical, concerning all the above.
