Piraeus Archaelogical Museum, Piraeus Greece
FOURTH PRIZE WINNER in European Architectural Competition
This holistic approach redesigns the landscape, the urban traffic, the building and the museographical brief along the lines of a central concept, which:
Promotes the archaeological site of the Eetionian Gates out of all public space levels and interior museum spaces.
Recreates the ambient alluding to the ancient landscape, by a bridging flow between facing hills and by linking the city to the Cultural Coast.
Connects the Museum’s entrance to the archaeological site through a public, free but enclosed passage crossing through the building.
Reforms the upper structure of the building by emphasising the borderline of the urban tissue and transforms the museum into a recognisable landmark.
A public passage connects the upper and lower plazas, crossing the museum space in a closed path and thus stimulating a future visit to the permanent exhibition. The pilotis is upgraded into a tall arcade and its plateau is converted into a recreation zone that offers unobstructed vistas to the archaeological site and the port. The new landscaping penetrates the mass of the multi-storey building, seemingly reducing its height. The planted landscape fades out at the pilotis level, where the public spaces are located. This level concludes at a balcony, a “belvedere” parallel to the ancient wall, which is connected to the upper plaza and the entrance to the archaeological site.
The proposed gesture links the valley with the level of the Archaeological Site aiming at the redefinition of the borderline of the city. At the lower level, the ancient slope is released of the existing delineation of Kanari Street, and thus the valley landscape is restored. The cover of the 220-car garage is landscaped as a second slope facing the ancient one, defining the concave shape of the public square.
The entrance to the museum is found in the enclave of the valley on the ground floor. There, the museum space is expanded towards the south, and its new transparent façade features the appealing interior to the public. Inside, the public is invited to follow a spiral path which unfolds into a fascinating museological scenario.
The proposal, a new urban event, evolves into low and longitudinal wings along the northern plot edge, outlining the borders of the dwelling zone. The new form of the building’s crowning redefines its character and transforms into a landmark.
The fortification of the Εetionia peninsula dictated the architectural and museographical elaboration. The significance of the Eetionia fortification cannot be fully perceived today because of its lacking western leg, which sealed the protection of the bay. This proposal restores the ancient landscaping by revealing the western slope of the fortifications, by lowering Kanari Street and by heightening the territory at the west part of the plot. The latter gesture transforms the western landscape intervention into a seamless continuation of the park, which can be perceived as the natural continuation of the planted slope beyond Diakou Street.
2014 Architects Efthymios Dougkas, Yannis Kizis, Costandis Kizis, Nikos Belavilas and Kally Politi
Consultants museological plot: Pari Kalamara / structure : Phaidon Karydakis / mechanical : Christos Zombolas
Collaborator : renderings : Illusion 3D