Arhiidea Architects of Riga, Latvia shared with us their proposal for the Pireaus Tower 2010 Competition in Greece. Additional images and the architect’s conceptual description after the break.
MAIN CONCEPT
The core concept of the proposal for the reconstruction of Pyreaus Tower is the publicisation of private space, thus opening the building to the city and its inhabitants for multiple uses. The character of the tower is reconsidered both in its functionality and image, as well as in a wider urban context.
The qualities of public space are included in many aspects of the design to activate the private space. The ground floor of the building is adjusted to include more public circulation space as an extension of the public space of the Akti Poseidonos and Dimostheneus streets. Since the tower is placed on the edge of the active city centre, the opening up of the ground floor also allows to expand and smoothen this border.
The publicisation of the private space is also achieved by cutting into the tower, thus allowing for public viewing terraces combined with the more private uses for restaurants and cafes.
The design for the facade of the tower aims at creating a strong image both for the building and also for the city – when entered from the sea. The glass facade of the tower is made up of slightly slanted glass elements, so that seen at an angle the shadows and reflections on the surface would create a recognizable pattern.
The pattern chosen for the facade is a famous landmark of Pireaus since the first or second century AD – the stone lion that was looted in the year 1687 and brought to Venice. The design of the facade thus brings back the local historic and symbolic qualities of the Pireaus port area in an unexpected interpretation – by linking a modern building and an ancient icon.
