Neapoli Coastal Zone

Awarded 2nd prize in national competition (Greece)

The Harbour Management Organisation of Monemvasia called for proposals for the revitalisation of the town of Neapoli, Greece, through the functional and aesthetical upgrade of its 1.5km coastal zone. The coastal zone constitutes the ‘core’ of Neapoli in terms of spatial structure, concentration of functions and attractors of urban activity, and contact with the sea; its design affects and is affected by the various spatial scales that constitute the settlement of Neapoli. The proposal includes the development of macro-planning strategies towards the future spatial and socio-economically sustainable evolution of the town, the design of the waterfront public space, the management of the port activity, circulation and local functions, and design guidance for the waterfront building facades.

Avoiding generic design approaches, the main principle of the proposal is the application of local and flexible design rules that take into account the characteristics of the actual localities that compose the waterfront. Examining carefully the actual spatial and socioeconomic conditions of Neapoli and considering its waterfront as a critical zone of intermingling of urban functions and leisure for both inhabitants and visitors, the proposed design intervention reconstructs the limit where the city meets the sea through the use of an organic wood ribbon that gets constantly reshaped, absorbing the surrounding dynamics and responding to the local needs. Overall, with the use of simple elements the proposed solution does not only aim at boosting the sustainable and controlled development of a ‘destination’, currently only acting as a ‘passage’, but equally at rediscovering the place’s own identity.
 

Images from top:

1. Photorealistic view, main part
2. Overview, panoramic view
3. Overview, plan view
4. Photorealistic view, east side
5. Photorealistic view, west side
6. Waterfront, face of western part
7. Waterfront, face of main part
8. Waterfront, face of eastern part
9. Space Syntax study, existing grid: urban intensity concentrated on waterfront
10. Space Syntax study, proposed grid intervention with completion of peripheral road connection: urban intensity distributed more evenly throughout settlement