When reading the city of Athens, the most visible quality of the Train Station is that of a limit. The impermeable boundaries of the area create a non-place surrounded by residential neighborhoods.

What makes the station a non-place and a place at the same time, is mostly related to its placement within the city. Even though a train station can be considered a non-place, a space for mobility that acts as an inter-urban connection point, for the residents of the area it is an everyday reality. Consequently, multiple uses of the space create multiple temporal perceptions. The way in which the Station is placed inside the city, enclosed by a tight urban fabric, increases its theatricality. More than one temporal readings are entangled, creating a different experience for each type of user.

The ultimate design objective is the creation of a permeable public space which will at the same time be able to operate as an improved train station. Taking hints from the history of the city of Athens, which is a multilayered one, the space can be read in multiple layers divided according to their function, the purpose they serve. The layers of railway circulation, including the metro lines running in parallel to the site are separated from those of pedestrian circulation. The system is then enriched with one more factor, that of the connection of extra-site areas, since that connectivity is what this part of the city is missing. The frequency of such connections is regulated by their importance in the everyday use of the space.

In its current scale the train station can be both an infrastructure and a place of attraction, so what is desired is the easier involvement of the now spectator in the daily act taking place above and on the tracks.

supervised by
Vana Tentokali