New Thresholds

''New Thresholds'' is a proposal that aims to establish a new functional corridor in the area, two main gates, that connect Kypseli to Athens city centre by public transportation which focuses on defining the neighbourhood’s limits. Furthermore, those two entrances constitute two structural models for a future soil neighbourhood. The first model will integrate a sustainable infrastructure to allow the recuperation and distribution of soil. It is supplied by the metro station at Kanari square through the neighbourhood to every intervention in the region by a rail system. It will be created for its transportation through the main street of Kypseli, Fokionos Negri. Thus, the environmental and financial cost of soil disposal will be avoided. The second model will connect the length of Kypseli through its ''polykatoikias’' backyards. It will remove the concrete asphalt that covers the city and will use the soil as a unifying element. Consequently, it will allow resilient vegetation and biodiversity to thrive and will contribute to decreasing the high temperatures during heatwaves. Those spaces in ''polykatoikias'', as well as some less qualitative private spaces like basements, are often underused. Once the proposal is implemented, the structure of new urban surfaces will become with gradients, generating more public space to fulfil population needs, such as leisure, greening and playground areas. This model will transition Kypseli towards the walkable city paradigm, drawing a comprehensive path for soft mobility by creating new paths and bike lines using the inner yards and semi-basements of polykatoikias buildings, from Amerikis square to the future Kanari’s square metro station.





© Ioanna Magafa, Katerina Mavrommati, Nikos Spiliotopoulos