The Soil Capital

Kypseli was once a vital and bohemian neighborhood, its streets busy with residents walking the pedestrian areas, enjoying the outdoor cinemas or local cultural and nightlife. Today we choose to bring back the cores of Kypseli, Fokionos Negri street, its stream, the market, the squares and the architectural testimonies that have reached us through its many polykatoikias. The project uses one of the most underused, yet, multifunctional natural resources available in the urban fabric, its soil capital. The full project uses up to 66% of the excavation soil from nearby metro station works on Kanari square. The concept can be replicated and upscaled in the continuity of Kypseli’s limits. The soil capital of Kypseli is readily available, cost-effective and very low maintenance. Soil is the connector between the different realms of private and public space, it gives us the chance to conceive streets as spaces where we pause and spend time. Cars lose their central place in the streets, now turned towards the needs of the population and where new public spaces are redesigned around nature, and not over it. The building's shared spaces are open and lively; connections to the public transportation nodes are improved, walking or biking is now safer. Businesses coordinate strategies and infrastructures, create a comprehensive offer that strengthens the local economy.