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GRAVITATIONAL CANOPY

 URBAN PLANNING FOR THE CITY CENTER OF XYLOKASTRO

 

NEW OFFICES FOR THE PUBLIC POWER CORPORATION HEADQUARTERS

Architecture: Micromega

STATUS: 2nd Prize at the architectural competition for the urban design of the center of the city of Xylokastro

Design Team: Alexandros Zomas, Mara Papavasileiou, Dimitris Papageorgiou , Fereniki Fotopoulou, Natasa Drougka, Ioanna Alexiou

Client: Municipality of Xylokastro

 
 
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The proposal “Territorial Transformations” attempts to use the main regional features of the local landscape as design tools for the regeneration of the main commercial axis of Xylokastro. We distinguish three main levels of interventions: Firstly the “soil” that includes the horizontal materiality of the paving, secondly the vertical level of the urban equipment and thirdly the intervention at the Square of Agios Vlasios.

 
 
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The soil / The materiality and the approach of the design for the pedestrian street is inspired by the linearity of the cultivated landscape, where vineyards and citrus trees are in abundance. The repeating rows of the plantation are translated into a linear distribution of the paving precast concrete elements, among which low and high plants are used.

 
 
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Urban equipment / Urban equipment is inspired by vernacular structures used in the local agricultural tradition for holding grapes so that they dry into raisins. The simple wooden structures are native to this landscape, they are anaysed and transformed and their variations are used as the new urban equipment. The equipment is composed by information panels, structures for climbing plants, landmarks for the entrances and smaller elements such as benches, bins and lighting fixtures.

 
 
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The square as a gravitation point/ Ag.Vlasios square is the spatial and symbolic centre of the new pedestrian road. We propose a new pavilion with a characteristic circular, mustard yellow roof, based on a wooden wall for climbing plants, which orients the gaze towards the church. The pavilion hosts the Municipal info point, as well as a new station for renting municipal bicycles. A curtain offers the possibility to create a temporary space for exhibitions and performances.

 
 
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Plantation /The plantation is the softscape element that will affect the microclimate of the new pedestrian road. Resilient and adaptive plants are proposed that are suitable for the area which is closeby the sea, while the existing trees will be preserved in total.

The greater walk / In a broader scale, we propose the creation of the “Greater Walk”, a pedestrian walk that connects the existing Marina to the New pedestrian Street and the big Pine Forest, ending to the Villa of Sikelianos, one of the local landmarks. The Greater Walk connects various landmarks and points of interest and could serve as a flagship project for a new Place Branding Strategy of the City of Xylocastro.

 
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