Hellinikon

Utilizing built form as a strategic carrier of culture in opposition of the status quo, the project links the disconnected suburban mountain communities to the east with the sea to the west while simultaneously cutting the massive Hellinikon International Airport and Olympic Park into distinct zones.

SITE: The largest, publicly owned, urban, coastal, open area in Attica. A void in the polykatoikia landscape.

MOMENT: The transition between the intensity of the sprawling city and the expansive isolation of the runways.

SCALE: A surreal monumental linear zone.

This new linear centrality capitalizes on the tension between the voided landscape of the airstrip and the dense energetic randomness of the surrounding sprawl. A pair of linear buildings that establish a thickened zone as a continuous path and sequence between sprawl and nothingness. Clear intentions and means of operation make the monumentality of the architecture an accepted and proactive participant in the city. The scale, relations, and intrinsic urban functions of the building and park system establish a new center within Athens.