Lato and Kekrops Quarries: a walk in the residual landscape

Student : Antonaropoulou Evgenia
Supervisor: Dragonas Panos
Architecture Department of Patras
Presentation date : 27/ 2/ 2014

The area of research is situated on the second hill of the rocky hill complex of "Tourkovounia" between "Attiko" woodland and "Veikos" woodland. It takes up space of 400 sq km and it's consisted of the inactive quarries "Kekrops" and "Lato", of which the mining activity took place from 1937 to 1976, leaving behind an altered landscape. Combined with the expansion of inner city residential areas, the said landscape has turned into a dumping site with a lost identity.

With the value of experiencing said space through our senses additionally using sense, I propose a linear reconnaissance walk and a remembrance site- a theme museum.

The walk of the senses serves two purposes : the enhancement of the experience we are currently having of this surreal landscape and the emergence of the scenic view of the city, but also the inner workings of the quarry. The concept behind the design of the course of this walk is based on leveling the grounds slope, sometimes just touching it and other times going through it, keeping it intact at the same time, whenever is possible.

The part which represents the experience, is connected by definition with the mining procedure and reposition, because it gets molded to an ditch put in the stone, or like made into ground levels.

The aerial course of the walk aims to showcase the views. During course, there are times when we glance the city and some other times when our gaze is captured by the elevations of the quarry, walking further down the mountain ridge's shape changes dramatically on every step.

During the course of the walk the only constructed elements that the visitor encounters are the amphitheatre and the quarry's theme museum.

The designing concept of the museum is to blend in with the quarry's landscape, by using the mined raw material and turning it into a building material. The building functions as having two poles between the regenerated "Attiko" woodland and the lunar landscape of the quarry. It aligns with the sights and it takes shape as a closed course on a slope, situated in a crevasse. The strictness of the design is broken down by the engraved walk and on individual points by chinks on the building's core creating sights.