Circularity in Your City

Sunday morning walk on the re-generated and very popular waterfront of my hometown Thessaloniki.
The New Waterfront of Thessaloniki is a linear place with relatively limited depth and big length, a fact that gives it the characteristics of a “front”, of a thin layer, inserted on the difficult and challenging limit between land and sea, between natural and constructed landscape.
The sea background of the gulf of Thessaloniki, constitutes an amazing scenery, where the mutable elements, create a different atmosphere each time.
For the waterfront of the New Waterfront, two major characteristic areas are distinguished, which set the principles for the basic choices of the proposal.
The breakwater: an ideal place for walking, without interruptions, without distractions. The “walker” is exposed to the light, to the open perspective, and has a continuous walk on the charming limit between two opposites: the stability of the massive breakwater – the instability and lucidity of the liquid element.
The green spaces: at the inner side of the coast, green spaces were formed, as a succession of “green rooms – gardens. It is about a sequence of spaces that attempt to maintain the familiar atmosphere of the private, while forming the public space. It’s not about big “parks”, but “rooms” of small size that remind of the domestic gardens that existed in the area and used to reach the natural seashore, before the landfill of the coast.
Finally it is worth noting that Artevia® Desactive decorative Special Concrete was used for the reconstruction of the waterfront and the coating of all its routes.

By IOANNIS SOLOMIDIS, Greece