The Titanic

The good news of the Deprived Society

In my first article in this column almost 3 years ago, I wrote about a genie whose miracles were not capable of providing a long-term solution to the environmental crisis. That genie reappeared the other day and we had an interesting dialogue that I convey here, in my last 'Leveler' article in greekarchitects.gr.

- You seem to be worried again. Last time it was the environmental crisis, now what is tormenting you? he asked me.

- We are having another crisis now, economic this time: Wages are falling, taxes are rising, hope is hibernating, I explained.

- I know all that, he said. It's not too bad; on the contrary it is good news!

I was surprised and invited him to explain.

The genie

A fairy-tale casting light to some others

cartoon by Chris Madden ©

One night, a powerful genie jumps out of my lamp and tells me that it will materialize any miracle that I wish. Being an individual with an ecologic consciousness, I ask for help to solve a few major problems that, in spite of our efforts, keep troubling us and the planet more and more.

Miracle #1 is an amazing invention to move our cars for free, without fumes or noise pollution. The genie obeyed immediately.

Miracle #2 is to convert all power plants so to use only renewable energy sources to produce electricity from now on. Zap, the conversion was done!

Miracle #3 is about garbage: The genie replaces all dirty dump sites with ‘hygienic waste burial sites’ and makes recycling a widespread reality!

A letter to Manolis

De profundis thoughts on Architecture

I do not remember, Manolito, how this confession was instigated: Was it to clarify your views or perhaps mine on architecture as a vocation and a mission? Whatever the motive, I consider this an opportunity to put some things straight.

I understand that my view on architecture is different from what I see around me, including even you: Much ado about nothing, lots of theory, much analytic fragmentation, in short "I hear heavy clamour, with lots of culture glamour" as the old poem goes. Maybe because of that, I felt an urge to describe my own attitude, after having converted it into words and phrases.

The Bitter Village

A monument of sorrow

“Few times in my life have I so physically felt the collective void of a people vanished, the expectant silence that hangs over the empty houses of a missing population. Once was while wandering through the empty barracks at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, and the other, walking through the largest and best preserved ghost town in all of Asia Minor – Kayakoy, Turkey.” Trent Rockwood "Greek Ghosts of Turkey"

The Asia Minor Catastrophe resonates massacres, looting, fires like in Smyrna. But such violence did not reach the south coast of Asia Minor. In those parts the tragedy was silent. Numerous Christians in the region were coexisting peacefully with their fellow Muslims for centuries. Until one day, without violence, without blood, without warning, suddenly came the news: the Great Powers had decided a "population exchange". The Greek arrogant folly “let’s get to Ankara too” uprooted 2.3 million souls on both sides of the Aegean. It was 1923.

One of the Christian settlements on the coast of Lycia (north-east of Rhodes) was Levisi. Rather a town than a village with some 3,000 inhabitants, it was built amphitheatrically on mild slopes covered by pine trees, just 2 km from the sea, hidden from pirates.

Green courses

Green courses for the architects of the 21st century

This is a 2007 proposal on the systematic integration of green design in the curriculum of National Technical University of Athens School of Architecture.

1.   Introduction

The link between natural phenomena and human activity becomes increasingly visible today, underscoring the importance of our relationship with the environment and increasing doubts about the viability of the dominant economic-political model of consumerist 'perpetual growth'. Problems such as the urban heat island, the traffic asphyxiation, or the “not in my yard” charade of landfills are tangible examples of the growing problem in our country, along with others from the global scene like the antagonism of oil, the frequent 'unprecedented' floods, or the shrinking polar ice.

Against this backdrop, architecture -which always reflects coexisting social structures and values- is a major factor of the human impact on the environment. Looking at the current situations and trends around us, how realistic is it to believe that architectural priorities after 10-20 years will be the same as today, where nature is often treated as a decorative background -and sometimes even as an enemy- in games of private aesthetics?