This is not a diploma thesis about Athens. At least, not about the athenian image that is cultivated by the mainstream media and current political debates. This is a diploma thesis about what Athens might or might not be.
In an effort to understand the dynamics underlying in the ever-changing athenian landscape, this thesis focuses on the shift from a historical analysis point of view to one that is trying to decode the procedures of becoming-Athenian. This effort points out that any major change requires that all social groups, as well as individuals, should be involved in a radical way of thinking that will lead to a new era of new becomings and narrations; in such terms, both our current way of life and thinking will be affected.
The findings derived from the analysis, resulted in the returning theme of the most demanding of all dialectics; the dialectic of the minor “otherness” in contrast to the major “subject”, in the context of the contemporary living conditions. Such conditions of “otherness”, can refer to both social circumstances and groups of people.
The athenian landscape is treated as a raw material, flexible to transformations and mutations. Through “material” addition, removal and boolean operations, new spaces are born to host the emerging program. In the final step, the same procedures are used to visualize the proposed design. By using three-dimensional cutting planes the design outcome and its spatial information and relationships are revealed.
