public and collective spaces / urban development takes place on several simultaneous levels of discussion – from the global (or in this case, european) to the improvement of actual situation in a town, district or neighbourhood.
urban living exists in a mixture of public spaces. therefore cultural – as well as commercial – uses are necessary to develope the idea of the west arc as one urban element of the city.

site 0: motel and seminar hotel / the structure of the motel is a variation on a fortress layout and should emphasise the beginning of the west arc.

site 1: park, administration, tertiary and sport uses / the aim of retaining the desired volumes as well as a large unbroken area of land is fulfilled by incorporating the buildings underneath the banked-up area so that the sloping roofs form part of the park. the area divided by the dentropotamou street is linked by wooded footbridges.

site 2 and 3: boulevard and park / our proposal provides for the creation of compact units for utilisation, which will have iharent possibilities for public space and will thus give rise naturally, as it were, to further stages leading to the disired mixture and intensification of urban vitality (homeopathic injections).
this process arises logically from the existing structure and scale of thessaloniki. for the design we have used two existing elements: the road network surrounding the seperate areas and the imposing warehouses with their simple lines. the lighting of the public space, as a new element, should include the entire west arc, connected to the new tramway.
the individual buildings stand on “carpets”, which cover part of the public area. this surface connects the outdoor with the indoor area of the open plan ground floors of public buildings. this symbolic presence in the public space is linked with the concrete possibility or obligation to use this outdoor space in accordance with the concept of the individual building or institution. this applies equally to university buildings, department stores, museums, cinemas, etc., which can thus reflect and represent their own themes and basic ideas in the public space.
this strategy of fragmentation, along with the possibility of handing over parts of the common space to be administrated by other organisations, will lessen the demand on public funds and allow the public authorities wider scope for action. for the large open area in site 3 the pattern of routes from site 2 will be superimposed upon the existing one. only part of the areas thus formed will be made into a park and one area will be wooded. the areas not planned in the first stage will serve as resources for future planning.

site 4: islands / the existing buildings and sports grounds on the area of the old barracks of strebeniotis will be enhanced by several smaller parks, scattered like islands throughout the district. trees will be planted around the central sports area, in order to create better conditions for its use, and to simplify the central focus of the old barracks area.