The urban background for this project is Thessaloniki, a city featuring dense central areas and private overwriting of the available public space. Besides the fact that the center always appears populated, people don't actually use the public space, but prefer the private outdoor configurations instead. The concept looks into a realistic solution that can be adjusted on the existing built infrastructure and provide a customizable public space experience to the users.
Space can be reshaped by changing its edges. A sliding branch on a rail creates as many different edges as the railing system provides. The branch series can be combined to create shade spots, night-lights, info-points, workstations and sitting schemes that feature different qualities of urban socialization. When not needed, the branches slide away, allowing temporality and free space.
A study of attraction nodes that bring the citizen into the public space in three different regions of Thessaloniki: Aristotelous Axis, Navarinou Axis and Agias Sofias Axis.
Construction detailing of the sliding branch; a structure that can handle environmental conditions and cannot be easily removed.
Connection between seperate branches and placement of the sitting modules
Info-point all day and all night, with solar-powered LED lights.
A corridor created by double rows of branches, suitable for exhibitions and flea markets.
