Architectural Design Workshop

“Happy he who, like Ulysses, has made an adventurous voyage; and there is no such sea for adven-turous voyages as the Mediterranean - the inland sea which the ancients looked upon as so vast and so full of wonders” ... Joseph Conrad

  The MediterraNew Architectural Design Workshop is a project created and developed by the archi-tects Giorgio Martino and Matteo Rigamonti. This idea is dedicated to students of architectural and design faculties. The event will be divided in two different moments: the former during the winter 2014, the latter in the fall of the same year. The ideal is to interact actively with our rich Mediterranean heritage through an innovative approach that takes into account both architecture and economics while respecting the lifestyles of local com-munities.

  The workshop follows the line of the activity , promoted and guided since 2012 by the architects Gio-vanni Perotti, Giorgio Martino and Dimitris Pikionis, in order to promote the inclusion of the monastery of Panagia Chozoviotissa, on the island of Amorgos on the list of tentative UNESCO sites in Greece. The winter workshop embraces numerous multidisciplinary lectures (50 hours, in three weekends between March and April), about heterogeneous subjects. Different relators will take part in this pro-ject. Theory and practice will find the perfect fusion in the contributions of teachers while the students will be asked to formulate innovative ideas to revitalize their Mediterranean heri-tage. The seminars will give students useful tools to adopt new strategies of architectural synergism with the practices and operative modalities of archaeology, architecture, communication, graphic de-sign, economic sciences and other arts. Participants will in fact be required to produce a personal con-cept through sketches and diagrams on digital media.

 

  The Fall Workshop will be more interactive. The stage of this session will be the magical island of Amorgos in the remote foothills of the Cyclades’ archipelago. In this fascinating area, the students, working in teams of 4, will face the interesting challenge of creating a revaluation project for this mi-crocosm.

  At the conclusion of the workshop, a competition (2014 Best Design Proposal Award) will be organized for the students. Innovative ideas for cultural sites on Amorgos will be examined by a special commission who will vote on the best project proposals. Participants will have to study more cases: some will be concerned with the ancient site of Asfontylitis and some will be focused on two other sites, chosen from a list available to the students. Common elements for the works/projects, will be the desire for the rebirth of Amorgos, adopting in-novative and sustainable strategies for its historical and environmental heritage, and in respect of the needs of its citizens. All projects will be donated to the island community and they will reinforce the Buffer Zone that UNESCO claims around the Panagia Chozoviotissa Monastery. MediterraNew would like to develop these workshops in the coming years in order to guarantee the continuity and the attention to the Mediterranean area's enhancement. A sensible awareness will in-crease the sense of identity as European inhabitants.


Regarding this idea, the Italian politician Aldo Moro wrote, “Nobody can choose to be European or a Mediterranean citizen, because the whole of Europe is in the Mediterranean area”.




Text by MediterraNew