MC Redux. Open 24/7
Thessaloniki
Architectural Workshop - invited. 49th Dimitria Festival. 2014
MC Redux Workshop: exhibition curation, design & concept by k&k architects
MC Redux Project Team: Katerina Kotzia, Vassiliki - Maria Plavou, Fotis Sagonas, Korina Filoxenidou, Fotini Filoxenidou
Maison Crystal building at the water-front.
Atelier pm was invited to participate in the "MC Redux" workshop for the 49th Dimitria Festival in Thessaloniki.
"The incorporation of a public building into the urban web is not just an issue of architecture. It also requires at equal measures its incorporation into the lives of the city’s residents.
The return of the (former) Maison Crystal building to the city of Thessaloniki will be explored in an architectural planning workshop, the subject of which will be the building itself.
Architects and designers will experiment on possible and improbable scenarios for its future use.
For their plans they will have to take into account the proposals and visions of the public which will be made available to them in the framework of the workshop.
The creators listen to the city (and provide results). This is an opportunity for citizens to participate in the planning of their daily lives. "
The MC Redux team
MC Redux's different uses, in three different time-frames, during a 24hour day.
“ What this city is missing are free open spaces”
Scale Tofit
“ A space where anyone could read, work, play, create, relax.”
Barbara Doumanidou
“A meeting point…, but also a place of active and direct participation and conformation”
Mai Self
Among the citizens’ proposals delivered at the online think-tank, several were identified as descriptions of Maison Crystal as an open social gathering space.
Maison Crystal’s cultural character, in this case, is composed by the –organized or spontaneous– gatherings of people that each time participate –consiously or not– in its creation. Being open, the space does not need a predetermined schedule and hosts its guests/configurators in a twenty-four hour base.
In order to satisfy the citizens’ desire for an open social space, Maison Crystal is organized as a single space without divisions and with an open access from the water-front.
For the sake of flexibility and durability, the space consists of the basic elements of a continuous floor, a utilitarian roof -as a receptor of equipment and lighting fixtures- and neutral walls. It is furnished with mobile, heavy, elongated elements for seating that can be set-up in various ways. The elongated glazing with the view to and from the sea is also kept open to the osmosis on both sides.
MC Redux exhibition at the Maison Crystal building.
MC Redux exhibition at the Maison Crystal building.
MC Redux meeting & discussion at the Maison Crystal building.
MC Redux publication.
