Organizing, Environmental Designing and Reforming of
Central Urban Areas in the City of Kozani
STYLIANI LEFAKI
Architect, Msc Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
KYRIAKI OUDATZI
Architect A.U.TH.
Msc Conservation of Historic Towns and Buildings
Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven, Belgium
Lecturer (407), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Lecturer (407), Democritus University of Thrace
Faculty of Architecture / Department of Technology
Exadaktilou 6, 54635, Thessaloniki
GREECE
Consultants
George Zoidis,Associated Professor,Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Ioannis Agelidis, Urban Designer
Abstract: This project was a study about Organizing, Environmental Designing and Reforming of Central
Urban Areas in the City of Kozani, a provincial city, located in Northern Greece.The main aim is to organize a
middle/long-term plan for the reformation of the historical and commercial city centre and to contribute to the
development of Kozani by creating an urban environment, friendly and functional, by creating qualitative
conditions and restoring the human scale, by saving energy and creating green and open-air activities spaces,
not only for habitants but also for visitors and by giving back to the hall town its lost identity.
The project acts in two levels, the first one of creating or reforming public open-air spaces and the second of
intervening on building shells, independently or as a group. Some of the means for the achievement of this
purpose are the additional - “mask” type – constructions - structural external panels, hanged on the facades,
the sporadic and focal construction of additional floors, the occasionally demolition of some of the outer
elements of the buildings, the redesign and geometrical reform of the façade elements, the new paintings by
refreshing or changing the colours of the facades, the foresight for volume and form of new buildings, the
unification and restoration of the ground level facades, the reforming or the creation of a new institutional
frame for supporting the implementation of the project and finally the preservation and restoration totally or
partially, of important old buildings, but also the preservation with minor or major interventions on more
recent buildings. The project is a first study for the reformation of the city centre, with option to be extended
to the entire city, depending on financial sources.
Key-Words: Organizing, Environmental, Designing, Reforming,Urban, Kozani
1 Introduction
Kozani is a provincial city, located in the northern
Greece, of a population of about 80000 people. It
is a city with a rich historical and cultural
background from antiquity till now. During the last
century, it faced a number of major problems such
as migration, industrialization and pollution, dense
building, urban anarchy, devastating traffic etc.
Because of a suddenly and extreme rebuilding of
big blocks of flats, was raised the major problem
of loosing its identity (historical, cultural, architectural) and becoming a city similar to other Greek
cities, air-polluted, overcrowded by cars and big
blocks, with small streets, without green areas and
any qualitative human conditions. To be noted that
architecture in Greece varies significantly from
place to place and this plurality characterises the
Greek landscape. Unfortunately, easy profit,
inability to predict and weak legal support have led
Greek cities to become impersonal sums of
buildings without identity.
2 Problem Formulation
The main aim of this study is to organize a
middle/long-term plan for the reformation of the
historical and commercial city center, contributing
to the development of Kozani, creation of an urban
environment, friendly and functional, by creating
qualitative conditions and by restoring the human
scale, by saving energy and creating green and
open-air activities spaces, for habitants but also for
visitors and by giving back its lost human identity.
The project acts in two levels:
2.1 Creating or reforming public open-air spaces
2.2 Intervening on building shells, independently
or as a group
2.1 Regarding the first level of creating or
reforming public open-air spaces, what we
propose intents:
2.1.1 To create new or redesign existing public
open-air spaces, sometimes encompassing the
interior free open-air space of the blocks of
buildings as the sole solution.
A major part of the plan is virtually a bet for
transforming inactive «private» space to functional
public one. An example is the inactive back open
space of the buildings of a special block, named
with the urban number 342. This area is the heart
of the city, both commercial and historical. The
numerous shops, built sometime between 19201940 in a similar way, have a back open-air
landscape.The shop-keepers focused their attention
on the front facade exhibiting their products and
ignored the back facades which became ugly and
repulsive. Moreover they created different
constructions and closed the passages to the back
in order to enlarge their trading-useful space. The
unification of these back open-air spaces will
create a small oasis which up to a point can
equalise the narrowness of the surround streets.
Reopening of the closed paths to the back
(possibly, remnants of the old city netscape) will
create a functional inner building block upgraded
in environmental and quality-of-life terms.
It is more than certain that in a modern, dense city
creating new public open-air spaces is extremely
difficult. Still, there are cases, like the old building
of the Greek Telecommunications, offered for
demolition and creation of open-air spaces, so
significant for the life of a city.
2.1.2 To create small, local functional spots for
recreation, cultural or social events or simple
meeting points for the neighbourhoods. Simple
every-day life is as much important as major and
ambitious projects. Recreation and rest within an
urban environment can be created by tiny, local
landscape spots which offer the sensation of free
air, cooling during the hot summer and protection
during chilly and rainy days. These can be
accomplished by using the natural sources
(sunlight, air current, plants and green, running
water) adding to upgrading of both physical and
social environment.
2.1.3 To preserve and point out the historical
structure and historical continuity of the building
blocks as a whole. Although the buildings that
form the building blocks do not have any
particular architectural or morphological features
their co-existence is the last attempt of the city to
preserve some of its qualitative, urban
characteristics that have to do with its history and
the expression of its social, financial and cultural
structural in space.
2.1.4 To create a pedestrian network, almost
independent but, at the same time, connected to the
non-functional existing one. This pedestrian
network aims not only to the obvious function of
transporting but also to display the historical and
cultural spots of the city. Therefore, it will be
connected to monuments or places of historical
and cultural interest as references in the urban
space. It will also create a walking path of
recreation and rest where pedestrians have the
opportunity to walk away from the noisy traffic of
the city centre and rest in a peaceful, natural
environment. In transportation, priority will be
given to pedestrians and people with special needs.
2.1.5 To embody sites of intervention to the
existing urban network interventions, no matter
whether major or minor should always respect
existing conditions. They should be so discreet not
to offend past and so obvious to point out future.
2.2 An important tool for the realization of the
above proposals is the second level of
interventions on building shells. The intentions
of the project on this point include:
2.2.1 The coherence of urban elevations.
2.2.2 The degradation of buildings’ volume in
order to restore the traditional scale of the old city
and the historical continuity. Kozani is an old city
and the remaining traditional buildings are built in
a small scale. Restoring this scale in existing large
and high buildings serves not only in a historic
way but also as a visual, psychological and
environmental lightening suggesting at the same
time future modes of designing urban space.
2.2.3 The restoration of architecturally and
historically important buildings and complexes.
This is a self-evident principle, although in some
cases it would be preferable to «sacrifice» a
building in order to gain open space. This kind of
decision is not yet mature to be taken.
2.2.4 The improvement of the energy-behaviour
of existing buildings by means of bioclimatic
design. Kozani is a pioneer in energy-saving and in
friendly to the environment actions. Therefore,
these kinds of solutions, although sometimes not
cost-effective, are always welcomed.
2.2.5 The regain of the lost urban identity of the
city. Identity of the city may be an abstract idea for
the strangers but is a very specific and important
reality for the inhabitants. People characterise and
are characterised by a city. They get pleasure or
stress, happiness or constant misery by it. They
learn to live in a certain way, in a certain life
rhythm and this should be respected and preserved
or transformed depending on the feeling someone
takes when living in a city.
Fig.1 A group of reorganized facades
3.1.2 The sporadic and focal construction of
additional floors
This serves the uniformity of urban constructions
in order not to provoke and offend vision or
aesthetics.
3.1.3 Demolition of outer elements
The occasionally demolition of some of the outer
elements of the buildings. Especially when they
are obviously improperly matched to the
surroundings.
3.1.4 Redesign of façade elements
Redesigning and geometrical forming of the façade
elements.
3.1.5 Recolouring
Refreshing or changing the colours of the
paintings.
3 Problem Solution
3.1 Some of the means for the achievement of
the above are:
3.1.1 Additional - “mask” type - constructions
These “mask” type constructions are ‘’hanged’’ at
the outer shell of the buildings. Ugliness in some
of the modern building is so devastating that have
to be hidden behind light, genius constructions.
Specifically, we mostly propose the use of panels
made of different materials (glass, photovoltaic
elements, brick, ceramics etc). Depending on the
peculiarities of each building they can reach about
the fourth floor. The aim of their use is to break
apart, visually and comprehensively, large facades,
to correct geometrical organisation [1] of abused
facades and to modernise technologically the
buildings (frames, balconies, escalators etc).
3.1.6 Reforming of volumes and open-air spaces
Foresight for volume and form of new buildings,
but also the open-air spaces, such like the central
square of the city[2]. Reforming the present should
be the guide for creation the future. Opportunities
like this project should not be wasted.
Fig.2 The proposal for the central square
3.1.7 Restoration of the ground level facades
Unification and restoration of the ground level
facades [3]. Anarchy in ground level facades, a
common feature of Greek cities, confuses and
disorientates pedestrians and is based on the
everyone’s personal feeling about what is beautiful
and what is not. The result, most of the time, is a
chaos of different colours, shapes and materials.
Reform or create a new institutional frame for
supporting the implementation of the project.
mainly reconsideration of the openings, demolition
of some of the outer elements and recolouring.
3.2.3 Addition of panels in the facades
This concerns buildings that come in contrast with
the general urban and historic scale. The proposed
interventions are more drastic and aim to the
degradation of the buildings. It includes the
addition of structural external panels, the
substitution of parts of the walls with other lighter
materials, etc.
3.2.4 Addition of built structures
It mainly concerns buildings that can be extended
either vertically or horizontally or spare landscape
and the proposals include addition of built
structures or the setting of building specifications
for these.
Fig.3 Unification and restoration of the ground
level facades
3.2.5 Demolition of buildings
Demolition of buildings [5] and setting of
specifications for the new ones and also
demolition of buildings in order to create more
open-air spaces.
3.2 Generally speaking, proposals for
interventions on buildings can be categorised as
follows:
3.2.1 Restoration, Preservation
Important old buildings [4] which are proposed to
be preserved and restored totally or partially,
preserving their style. Interventions should include
structural ones, reorganising of the openings and
balconies and recolouring.
Fig.5 Proposal for the total demolition of a central
building block
Fig.4 The restoration of Valtadorion High-school
3.2.2 Interventions on recent buildings
Interventions on more recent buildings which are
preserved. The aim is not to restore the initial
shape but to embody the present one to the
surrounding total. It includes minor interventions,
Fig.6 An aerial view of the interventions area, with
tension to extent to the whole town
4 Conclusion
Architecture is vision, ideas, inspiration and
reality. Our project was designed to follow these
rules, utopian and realistic at the same time.
It is political and social decisions that turn
architectural ideas to reality.