The
adaptive reuse concerns the former “Hebe” factory, a 19th century
industrial architecture imprint on Piraeus Street, which stands
unfinished, abandoned and worn by time. A vocational high school of
agriculture, which functions as a living cell in the urban fabric.
A living organism that fosters relationships, revives the past and offers a new meaning to public education. According to Zhiming Zhang, agriculture is a way of life to be experienced by all, the art of cooperation between humans and nature. The school is designed for 150 students (1st, 2nd and 3rd grade), teachers and agricultural staff, as well as specific species of flora and fauna.
Piraeus
Street has been a major axis of Athens since the past, as it is
inscribed on the old walls of Athens. With the Industrial Revolution
in the 18th century, the area developed industrially, and Piraeus
Street became a major industrial axis. After the Second World War,
the area experienced a decline as the engines of the factories ceased
to sound. Today, Piraeus Street is being transformed into a cultural
axis, preserving its historical identity and highlighting the culture
of modern Athens.
The "Hebe"
building, built in 1884, is a typical example of 19th century
industrial architecture, with a strict symmetrical arrangement in the
form of a “Π”. It was constructed in 4 phases; it consists of 8
massive sections and has a stepped elevation. It is made of stone,
with a smelly tiled roof and a 32-metre-high brick chimney.
The
building
creates a memory, a nostalgia. It encompasses the layers of the past,
with its materiality visible. Abandoned, unfinished, a crude
structure, worn by the traces of time.
The
design
is a work in progress, unfinished, an apparent construction, under
construction, a site, a scaffolding, a parasite inhabiting the
building.
The
users
complete it, transform it in different ways, with expression, with
freedom. It is a process, something ephemeral, with an indefinite
duration.
Nothing
lasts,
as a building receives multiple completions-uses.
Nothing
ends,
as the life and future of the building is unexpected and
unpredictable.
Nothing
is perfect,
everything is incomplete, when is something actually complete? When
is the design, use, function completed? And who completes it? What
will be the duration? will it change? will it remain stagnant?
Everything is unexpected, unpredictable, ephemeral.
- So, it
all starts here, a Monday, a Wednesday.
-
Weekdays at school, strangers.
-
On prayer mornings in the courtyard, waiting.
-
8:15 there, every day, every morning.
- Today a
school, a place of education.
-
A big house.
-
A multi-purpose, multi-functional classroom.
-
An education multilevel, experimental.
- Physics,
biology, chemistry, chaos.
-
In the loft, moments of relaxation, calm.
-
Freedom, although with some limits, teachers.
-
Library, knowledge machine, exploration, reading, retreat.
- Today a
rehearsal, concert, dance.
-
Tomorrow a performance, an expression.
-
Another day, a market, another completion, in the same space.
-
People's sounds, people, market. - Hiding place, erotic rendezvous.
- Maybe a
place to rest, toilets.
-
In the greenhouse, traces of the past make up the roof.
- Nature,
human, cooperation.
-
Sun, heat, humidity.
-
Gymnastics, sports, courtyard.
-
Space transitional, unifying.
-
The water element crosses the garden, cooling, watering.
-
And a new extension makes its appearance.
- Teacher's
office, doctor's office, mental health advisor.
-
But beyond that, beyond the concerns, the voices, the exercises.
-
Production, human,nature, way of living.
-
Where other species dwell. - where other species find life.
- In
nature, in the soil, in contact.
-
A process, unexpected, unpredictable.
-
So, this is where it all ends, a Monday, a Wednesday, and back to the
beginning.
