Despite the evolution of technology, contemporary societies face serious issues when dealing with the management of their natural resources. Athens is such an example. The diversity of its natural network, which revealed the dynamic relationship of the Attica landscape with the water, has now been lost as it is occupied by the new sewerage and traffic networks of the city.
Kifisos is the main stream of Attica plain whose largest section has undergone unsuccessful flood prevention construction works. In 2004, the construction of the corresponding road axis for the Olympic Games in Athens completely covered a part of the river making it a hidden drain. Today, only a short section near its source retains its naturality.
The lower level of Kifisos defines the boundary between two different regions,Faliro and Moschato. There, the metro line 1 passes in front of an old closed steam-electric power station. The area has been transformed into a de-industrialized zone inside the fragmented city. Only the industrial shells and the machines remained to save it in memory. We seek to approach a new typology of urban fragments based on the water circulation system. While exploring the diversity of Kifisos, we wondered how this border may become a factor which connects rather than divides. A system is created composed of water passages, water collection and evaporation basins. Through this action we give room to the river providing the area with flood protection. What was once a brownfield land, an inactive and amorphous area becomes a living organism that reacts.The possible, the intermediate, the dialectic between artificial and natural.
The inhabitant walks in this hybrid space with a random way which to a certain extent is indicated by the cracks of the soil. These traces of the ground are stretched linearly as we approach the factory from the Piraeus street, crossing the boundary of the train railes which we have broken up by incorporating vertical rough architectural elements. We wanted to reveal traces and interfaces of a pending landscape, having water as an activating factor. A living organism is created. A narrative into the paths that water may engrave, unfolds... A different interpretation of the industrial landscape on Kifisos.
The Board:
