A daylong conference was organized at the School of Architecture at NTUA, October 4. It was structured in three panels. The morning session was an overview of the three ASOC cycles and took the form of a narrative by Greek partners and students involved in them. In the evening session the first panel opened the discussion around architectural pedagogies in view of the principles introduced by ASOC with the participation of NTUA professors, and the third and closing panel of the evening session examined the field of architecture and emerging professional practices which attempt to address the social and environmental roles of architecture in Greece. In conjunction with the conference, a temporary exhibition with photos, drawings and videos which communicated the ASOC spirit took place at the vestibule of the historic Averof building and remained open until Friday, October 11.
The Conference took place at the atrium of the Averof building.
The first panel was dedicated to a presentation of the three-year program of the School of Architecture of the Commons by the partners of the Greek cycle (N. Anastasopoulos, Christina Serifi and Juan Chacon) and several of the Greek students that had participated in all three cycles. The panel communicated ASOC’s goals, methodologies and outcomes and provided a narrative of the three cycles. The participating students were: Mariefi Gkouma, Thanasis Petsinis, Anna Chrysanthakopoulou, Aimilia Kyriazi, Orestis Apostolatos, Orestes Nikolaidis, George Panaretos, Martha Vasilatou, Haris Liogkas, Iliana Papadaki, Vasiliki Chita.
The second panel was a round table about architectural education between four professors at the School of Architecture.
Penny Koutrolikou, Associate Professor
Leonidas Koutsoumpos, Assistant Professor
Eleni Alexandrou, Professor
Yiannis Grigoriadis, Professor
Moderator: Nicholas Anastasopoulos, Associate Professor
The need to broaden the scope of architectural education and to enrich the curriculum with pedagogical methods emerged from the panel and areas of knowledge that are going to be needed by the future architects were discussed. The idea of a construction workshop was discussed and will take place soon.
The third panel was attended by representatives from emerging architect collectives in Greece
Participating collectives: PilOIko, Recual, Urbana, LUDD
Moderators: Kaena Talks (Natasa Lekkou, Mariza Daouti) and Nicholas Anastasopoulos
The final panel was an opportunity to discuss the current role of architecture in Greece. It stressed the need to support architectural experimentation and make visible the practices of architecture collectives.
A spin-off workshop at NTUA in the ASOC spirit
The events at NTUA related to the Architecture School of Commons culminated with a spin-off project. A hands-on workshop with the duration of one week in which students were asked to design and produce outdoor furniture for the backyard of the School of Architecture using planks and by upcycling metal frames of discarded drawing tables took place . The workshop included a combination of ASOC alumni and fresh students excited with the prospect of getting a taste of the ASOC program’s experience. The participating students were Manos Skyvalakis, Maria Vandorou, Haris Liogas, Vasiliki Chita, Giorgos Panaretos, Aimilia Kyriazi, Thanasis Kalandranis, Annie Sapountzaki.
The outdoor furniture which was produced through the workshop has become a popular meeting point for students and faculty alike ever since.
