The following landscape and urban design project focuses on the rehabilitation of a gully located in eastern Thessaloniki and its reintegration to the surrounding densely built residential urban fabric. By rehabilitating the natural elements of the landscape and offering diverse open-air locations, the proposal seeks to turn the degraded and underused site into an ‘urban oasis’ and a capacitor of multigenerational social interactions for the broader area.

An evident contrast is found between the eastern and western edges of the site, with smoother and more accessible inclinations to the east. In terms of vegetation, the southern part is populated densely by mostly high deciduous trees, which then become sparse and from the school northwards alternate with a dense high population of evergreen ones. Where trees aren’t present, climbing and herbaceous vegetation covers the steep inclinations and the riverbed. 

The seasonality of the vegetation and the amount of water in the stream result in a dynamic natural landscape.

Moreover, a more urban character associated with human interventions and higher noise levels is attributed to the south and a more forest-like landscape with lower noise levels to the north. The human interventions materialise as unregulated building and parking, waste pollution, informal circulation axes and barriers which render the site as a discontinuation of the surrounding urban fabric.

Main ideas of the design process are adaptability and transition, rehabilitation and enhancement. In the east the terrain is reconfigured to fit the design, whereas in the west the design is adapted to the steep slope through overhanging elements.

The vegetation is enhanced with a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and aromatic plants that are native in mediterranean and riparian ecosystems.

Different degrees of intervention in land use, planting and materials are proposed in order to smoothen the transition from the urban to the natural character of the landscape. 

The introduced openair spatial configurations and equipment cater for intergenerational leisure and sports, with the urban plaza and surroundings of the school becoming the focal points of activity. Multiple access and bike/car parking points restore the connection of the proposed social capacitor with the neighbourhood. Permeable materials are selected for a minimal interference with the torrent and the vegetation.

RAIKIDOU Evangelia | RETZEPERI Mirto | MOSCHOGIANNI Georgia | TAIRI Athanassia

2020 | AUTh | Thessaloniki, Greece