Astiko Theatro envisions Thessaloniki’s central waterfront as an urban theatre with all its principle components. Each component is manifested as a system of urban products for staging, lighting, and auditorium. This system creates new places and supports an already burgeoning creative events culture.
The urban theatre enables every Thessalonian to interact with their city as both actor and audience. The system provides a new interaction point for all citizens, both local and global, during ‘open periods,’ when the content of the projections is released for use by the general public. For a short period, each person can become the personal curator of the theatre, submitting images or artwork through their mobile devices or a web-based interface. Global citizens can tap into the network as well, and reserve time to showcase work.
Historically, Thessaloniki sat at the crossroads of Western Europe, the Balkans, and Asia Minor, acting as a primary port and transit hub for the region. With the subsidence of local industry and the recent economic crisis in Greece, the city is struggling to redefine its identity. Is Thessaloniki an exhibition city? A port city? An entertainment hub? A technological incubator? A gateway to the Balkans and the green islands of the northern coast?
Our initial reading of the city was that it already contains many valuable assets to position Thessaloniki as a strong regional entity. Its layers of history are unique; the regional positioning of the city has resulted in the historic overlays of four distinct periods: Ancient Greek, Roman / Early Christian, Byzantine, and Ottoman. Some layers are uncovered, visible and accessible to residents and visitors, but in general the city has yet to capitalize on its heritage. One can read the city by historic districts, but only after a careful study of city form and building typologies. Many layers have yet to be uncovered and amplified to greatly bolster the identity of the city.
Astiko Theatro is a proposed public realm intervention that links existing open spaces along the central waterfront.
A newly invented networked lighting system acts as both a public realm investment and a resilient medium for local and global artists. Each lighting device consists of two primary emitters, one that acts as a traditional street light and the other as a projector. The system rotates on two axes so that projections can be oriented in any direction. This universal flexibility
enables the entire urban environment, including buildings, awnings, the streetscape, and even the water surface itself, to act as a canvas for artists.
Thessaloniki is the creative and intellectual hub of the Macedonian region. A robust annual event calendar highlights the city’s contributions in graphic design, contemporary art, multi-media production, international film, and music. Astiko Theatro can be incorporated into the city’s program for large-scale redevelopment planned in anticipation of the city’s 100th anniversary of the incorporation into Greece. The program has budgeted an estimated €28.2 million in 2011 alone for the revitalization of the city’s physiognomy.
The flexibility of Astiko Theatro allows a customizable program for the city’s full range of events and institutions. The system enables unique experiences throughout the year: from atmospheric conditioning for daily lighting in winter, to hosting outdoor
exhibition space in conjunction with the convention center for the International Trade Fair, to stargazing nights hosted by the Science Center & Technology Museum.
The inaugural symphony orchestra waterfront performance to kick off the annual Dimitria City Festival. Several barges are arranged in a tiered formation in the center of the gulf. Projections are focused out on the water and animate whimsically
along with the music.
The barges are also highly customizable in configuration: they are responsive to the needs of people at the waterfront at any given time. In a resting state, the barges provide small-scale public space or new launch points for boats into the Gulf of Thermai. Waterfront commerce can be supplemented with prime activity space if bars, restaurants, or stores rent out barges to extend their services. As crowds gather for particular events, the barges can be rearranged along the waterfront
into larger-scale auditoriums, thus meeting the city’s spatial needs at any given time.
They say that there [on Mount Olympus] is the seat of the gods, ever secure: it is not shaken by winds or drenched with rain nor do snowstorms assail it, but always brightness is spread about it, without clouds, and a clear light plays about it. There the blessed gods take pleasure every day.
- THE ODYSSEY
