receptors of arbitrariness
abstract
The following project is about a special urban
condition that is taking place in the city of Thes-
saloniki (Greece). A neighborhood at the borders
of the citys historical center in an area marked
by the ruins of the byzantine muralls. Those lin-
ear city walls along with a green unbuilt strip
at both sides of them, create a crack at the
contemporary urban grid. Being in a situation
of constant decay, the area gathers unoficial-
spontaneous shelter-houses on unoccupied land
around and onto the byzantine city wall. Vernac-
ular informal structures, built by the hands of
their very residents (usually of a particular social
group).
During the postwar expansion of the citys core,
outside the city walls, those unofficial structru-
res ended up coexisting with the newly con-
structed appartment blocks closely around the
planned urban tissue.
According to the modern urban practices, these
residential formations are being considered out-
dated and pathogenic and have been threatened
by demolishion the past decades. Nevertheless
the way they developed and self-organised (as
an aggregation, but also as single units), has an
important value for the social and architectural
history of the city.
The programmed restoration of the city walls
and the design of public green spaces along
them, does not include those buildings.
keywords
In an effort to find a solution between those coexistence of
two conditions, the following project seeks a contradictive elements
way to incorporate those elements into a long /housing blocks
term strategy applied in the region, using the /historical monument
experience of informal techniques inside a new
informal-vernacular architecture
framework. This way the very tenants of the
Urban Juxtaposition
removed houses (but also the tenants of the
surrounding building blocks) will have the oppor- Ad hocism
tunity to reappropriate the space of that grey
zone, through a radical collaborative scheme. adaptable to the needs
self-organised
At the same time the project tries to produce a architecture without architects
new form of urban vernacular- a strategy that filling by evacuating
essentially informalizes the formal. The tenants- evacuating by filling
users become again the builders of their own concentration
houses according to their needs, following their go vertical
re-edited techniques towards the dirrection of
without covering ground
the new strategy. y introducing a new urban
living facade
typology, the project also reconsiders the greek
construction model, hit by the crisis, that was reused materials
the basic factor of the greek economy. A struc- framework
ture more editable and flexible with embeded plug-in infrastructure
infrstructures, that can host houses accord ing social density
to their tenants needs, against the dying mod- urban vernacular
el of the strict and irreversible current housing
blocks. formalize the informal
This long term procedure aims to achieve social informalize the formal
resilience, between the different current social
groups, by promoting self-organised architec-
ture through collaborative acts.
description
In an attempt to investigate everyday sponta-
neous structuring examples- structures derived
by the funtamental housing need, the follow-
ing project focuses on a part of the Thessaloniki
city walls, where contradictive architectural ele-
ments are gathered next to each other. Minor
Asia refugge huts (1922-...), apartment buildings
of 70, recent barracks. The coexistence and the
special-polemic relationship between a histori-
cal monument, formal and informal architec-
ture, forms the urban image of the region and
raises a dilemma about the maintenance or not
of the scheme.
During the last decades various agencies (state,
municipality, etc.) have taken steps to remove
the historical refugee hut settlement that is ap-
plied on the walls (kastroplikta), but with insuf-
ficient organization, without long term planning,
rousing opposition from locals and architects
organizations, defending the right to housing
and the architectural heritage of Thessaloniki.
In front of the dilemma: highlighting the monu-
ment by removing the barracks/ continuation of
the existing situation, the following project re-
sponds by analyzing the forces that configured
the space syntax of this area over the years. It
combines them, it turns them into architectural
tools for the production of space, giving them
new direction, composing-planning the future
development of the area on the same basis.
Spontaneous structuring expressed through ar-
bitrary acts.
The constant legal uncertainty relative to the
historical monument and the management of
its surroundings, turned the region-urban crack
in a blur construction zone, allowing to disad-
vantaged populations, to occupy it and set up
the their lodging.
Similarly, the absence of restrictions, allowed
to individual developers to build tightly near and
onto the zone, irreversibly, without the possibil-
ity of future expansion, pushing the lodgers, to
add irregularly new parasitic structures (coverd
balconies, unauthorized establishments) on the
body of the residential block, in order to meet
their constantly emerging needs
This last phase completes the long history of
arbitrariness in the region.
The unofficial architectural practice / arbitrari-
ness, is an important factor in shaping the urban
landscape of the examined area and therefore
is selected as the primary tool of the new archi-
tectural intervention.
 analysis / historical facts, urbanism, typology, morfology

initial formation of city walls ottoman era refugee house polykatoikea contemporary spontaneous
1922-... 60s-70s shelter
80s-90s

Urban landscape.
Product of interactin between the historical phases
Current situation.
Coexistence of contradictive built configurations.
Minor Asia & refugee wave
initial formation Ottoman Empire Formal and informal structures
catastrophe new shelters-huts appear
(and their blurred boundaries)
hellinistic era roman empire Byzantium 5th c. 1453 1830 1860 1880 1917 1922 1960 1968 1978 1979 1980 1981 1995 1996 1997 1998 2001 2002 2005 2007 Today
according to the current legal framework.
50 A.D. - 3rd c. 4th c.
great fire of
Thessaloniki The absence of specified building laws, converted the murall
zone into a greyzone, letting constructors build close to the
monument, even demolish it partially, in order to achieve the
highest profit (60s). The housing needs of the rural popula-
tion that inhabited the city led to massive construction.
Along with the arbitrary refugee
shelters of the past, new addings
appeared, this time on the body of the
dense appatment blocks in order to
cover the emerging needs.
/catalogue arbitrary addings. existing built configurations

Irrespective of the historical period

& due to lack of programmed urbanism
constantly increasing housing necessity led to various City walls ruins.
arbitrary addings. Grows lengthwise.
Encloses the historic center
Acts as a host for the barracks (kastroplikta).
Provides protection and construction materials
single units-shelter
shelters (units or aggregation) attached to the muralls
using them for protection and as part of the structure
shelter-units occuping unused spaces attached to the surrounding
building blocks frame + filling structural box

addings on the body of the housing block Small makeshift dwellings attached to the wall.
rooms extension on the balconies and terraces of the apartments included in its geometry.
filled alcoves attach a one or two sides, for residence walls.
additional equipment on the sides and the top small volumes with one or two rooms. in groups they share common
arbitrarily opened windows living spaces.
etc. extension of daily activities in the public space. appropriation of it.
creation camp attached to the wall,

...

Arbitrary addings are inevitable.

Emergent needs lead to addition of new spaces (and equipment)
that constantly transform the image and the form of the irrevers-
Polykatoikea
ible built environment.
development in height,
Instead of fighting them by legal and physical ways, it would be
floors 3-8
more useful to give them a defined framework in which they could
mixed used, mostly residences
occur.
A framework that tries to predict their development by program-
ming the forces that create them.
A prototype design borrowing elements of the existing built
configurations could provide the ground for that development.
/photo documentation

buildings in decay arbitrary addings Closeness living outside Kastroplikta,

material & textures of traces of removed shel- Housing blocks built extension of every day
the revealed structures ters, almost onto the city life activity, outside the spontaneous structures
blurred boundaries be- walls house. attached to the city
tween the elements Spatial configurations walls.
provide the ground for
those activities. Trans-
form them and get trans-
formed by them.
How the space interacts
with the urban life of the
region.
/urban analysis

further analysis, Focus on the 3 circled

tranlation of current urban activity areas
(photos above) into graphic data.
Modern city grid

Built-unbuilt map

Organic grid of
the old city

Height map
Blurred boundaries
between the two
systems
Urban crack
 /urban analysis Site of intervention
Urban crack detail/section

Acts like an urban crack

Gathers all the contradictive elements
Adjacent urban block not finished, leaving
a void to be integrated by the proposal. In
front of the muralls, giving, at the same time
the oportunity, to integrate the proposed
structure, into the organised urban grid.

Intervention on a part, with purpose to

reconfigure the whole region gradually, along
Organic city grid detail/ Modern city grid detail/section with a long-term strategy.
section
Collection of elements and textures found in Reinterpretation of the elements and textures, gathered,
the area by-products of the various activities into new formations and assembly techniques, to apply
(living, arbitrary strustures, aged buildings) to the proposed project-strategy.

The dominant Textures define the image of the Reassembly the textures, and the structural tecniques of
area. the existing elements, in order to cover the needs of the
Reused & raw materials, new residencies (natural light, ventilation, privacy, heat-
Unofficial built elements- improvised tech- ing, weather protection etc.) of the proposed project.
niques,
Old traditional houses in decay At the same time the reassembled textures will help the
revealing their structure, new proposed structure to integrate gradually to its sur-
Construnction junk, roundings.
Revealed brick structures
Fallen plaster,
Old wooden decks,
Rusty metal sheets,
Plywood panels as walls,
Old and reused doors & window frames
Raw vegetation

/intervention- proposal- strategy
potential floor plan configurations.
facade, materials warehouse, textures palette, landmark, shared spaces
Future tenants get the materials needed from the facade-warehouse, they copy assembly
Combining the typologies above, a new structure emerges. A struc- Map of shelter- houses techniques from the pallette, to build their new homes, which gradually integrated into the Framework, structural system of new dwellings, receptor of
ture that encourages continuous operations, concentrating sponta- urban environment in terms of materiality and scale. Functions as a Landmark. the spontaneous building activity.
of the urban crack It collects and displays materials and textures of the elements of the area.
neous structuring in height. It is a proposal for a new typology that Includes the necessary facilities for water supply and elec-
The more tenants come to build their homes, the more the facade gets emptied of ma-
emerges from the data of the analysis of the spatial/ architectural preserved terials, assigning the revealed area to the shared space.
experience of the area. buildings Most tenants-users = more shared space
The new structure-receptor is placed on the unbuilt half of an adja-
cent to the wall, city block (inserting the new typology in the modern
urban tissue) and oriented towards the ruins.
The scaffold with its improved infrastructures and material pallette,
influenced by the existing textures of the site, difines the framework
within which the displaced residents of barracks will supplement grad-
ually abandoning the kastroplikta.
Tries that way, to predetermine as posible, the evolution of that liv-
ing structure, in order to achieve a long term integration in its built
environment, while introducing a new proposal to the urban image.
Doesnt touches the ground
Framework --> DIY architecture
Gathers the spontaneous structuring.
Goes vertical.
Enhances collaboration within the community/ Resilience
potential combinations of houses on floors,
in relation to the water supply network and total area division potential
1050 m2 into configura-
modules tion of
housing
modules
vertical circulation
constuction materials/ techniques/
shared spaces
bricks, tubes, metal and wooden
beams, planks etc.
electricity wet spaces
water network
collection of rainwater
/phases of the evolution of the strategy

north facade

phase
 north facade, section

phase
 north facade, section

phase
 north facade, section

phase
 Author
Kormpize- Corbis Alkiviadis
Adhocism is the art of living and doing things ad hoc. Tackling problems at
once. Using materials at hand. Rather than waiting for the perfect moment Thessaloniki
or properaproach. Greece
CHARLES JENKS, ADHOCISM - THE CASE FOR IMPROVISATION, 1972
alkis_arch@yahoo.gr
alkis.corbise@gmail.com