Year: 2016
Location: Athens, Greece
Program: Residential
Design: Stefania Orfanidou, Gregory Petropoulos
Type: Academic project

The project investigates the current condition of the Athenian polykatoikia, focused in the district of Agios Panteleimonas in the heart of the urban fabric. The area is characterized by the presence of immigrants and the lack of social interaction between the inhabitants. Furthermore, the limits between the public and private realm are so strict that they intensify the social segregation by creating inviolable boundaries.

Our research attempts to deconstruct those boundaries by re-conceptualizing the meaning of inhabiting the space in an existing shell of a polykatoikia. The starting point in the design was a series of diagrams, that represent possible plan versions. Our tools include both permanent and temporary elements, that aim to create negotiable boundaries between the apartment and the communal space at the level of each floor. The residents can intervene in the design of their personal space and according to their will, one can choose the flexibility of the collective space on the level of his residence. Hence, the physical and social limits between the occupants are deconstructed creating more collective spatial possibilities.