Abstract:

Platform 2 is an architectural project reconnecting the neighborhoods of Tavros and North Kallithea in Athens through a new community center embedded in a restructured urban landscape. Both areas face high school dropout rates, unemployment, and an aging population, while being physically separated by a metro line, extensive asphalted surfaces, and a highroad. The site lies along a green recreational axis linking the city center to the harbor, currently interrupted by infrastructure. Urban interventions relocate the highroad access to the site’s edge, resurface an underground river, and establish a continuous public park. The metro station is partially rebuilt as a floating roof structure, creating a fully accessible overpass that resolves the bottleneck and strengthens connections between both districts. At the end of the highroad, directly framing the overpass, the community center forms the project’s core and a new point of identity. Its volume responds to the surrounding infrastructure, while fragmented facades react to the finer grain of the residential context, mediating between movement, landscape, and neighborhood scale. Graffiti facades by local artists further integrate the building into the urban surroundings. The building is organized vertically to promote social exchange, with a cafeteria and meeting spaces on the ground floor, workshops and co-working above, and library and learning spaces on upper levels supporting skill development and shared production.