Fluvial Narratives

Georgina Giassia

The flow of an evolving city is inseparable with the water flow of its rivers. This project narrates the development of a big city, in this case Athens, tracing its flow, through the transformations of its rivers and streams. In ancient Greece, rivers were respected and worshiped as Gods, due to the water scarcity. For this reason the economy was based, apart from the commerce, to stock raising also. Philosophers and scientists valued notably the walks next to the fluvial routes, as places to think and concentrate. However, this phenomenon changed through time as civilians neglected nature and turned to industrialization. Urbanization, as long as war impacts, became the reasons why the city polluted its rivers and turned them into drainage system. The fluvial network of Athens was greatly decreased, when the city started to expand rapidly and the urban grid reached the streams' riverbeds. Even now, in extreme conditions the natural topology takes over the city and the once covered streams by streets, become fluvial routes again. Thus, the output of this research is four (4) fluvial intersections of the current condition, that consist the initiate of a vertical scanning of Athens, to reveal its stories formatted from the exact space and time. This catalog aims to pose the question in the urban design of Athens, of what comes next to the flow of evolution of this city and is implied the importance of small scale interventions.