G
R
E
A
T
GREEK
ARCHITECTURAL
TALENT
ARCHITECTURAL
TALENT
A PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE THE GREEK ARCHITECTURAL VISION
We read
We listen to
We listen to
20.5 - 9.6 2013
AT MEGARON ATHENS
THEIR FIRST
BUILDINGS
Kotsioris Evangelos
Moscow re-designed: an urban renovation tale
2009
Undergraduate
AUTh School of Architecture, Thessaloniki, Greece
Professor(s): Nicos Kalogirou
As part of a series of “modernization” interventions and an almost collective denial of the recent past, big parts of the architectural history of the soviet period are simply erased from the map. These “stylistic errors” are subsequently replaced with neo-historic “upgrading” projects that revive the city’s former glamour. Norman Foster’s proposal for the site is an exceptional example of this tactic. Executed in “Moscow Style” according to the mayor’s demand, the project was promoted as a 21st c. “total recall” of the historic urban fabric of the area.
After a trip and stay in the city, on-site research, interviews with Russian architects, publishers, artists and curators, an answer to the problem seemed even less profound. In an attempt of a contemporary alternative that would nonetheless satisfy the intentions of the city, history makes its reappearance in the form of the footprint of the original urban fabric of the site that existed back in the beginning of the 20th century. This footprint is extruded until the demanded criterion of 361,500 sq. m. of built area is met and is subsequently stacked in tree layers, in order attribute the biggest area of the ground to public programs.
The resulting complex porous system of pedestrian paths, patios, galleries, bridges and terraces is practically “invisible” from the Red Square and attempts to give back to the city a flexible living organism while the architectural language and the organization of the semi-independent neighborhood-clusters are offering an eclectic re-interpretation of a century of Russian avant-garde architecture.
CV
Evangelos Kotsioris is a PhD candidate in the History and Theory program at the Princeton School of Architecture. He graduated with first class honors from the School of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2009), studied as an exchange student at the Faculty of Architecture of TU Delft (2007) and earned his post-professional Master in Architecture II from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2011).
He has worked as an architect in Greece (2003-09) and Holland at OMA (2007-08). In parallel to practice, he worked as a research assistant at AUTh, Harvard GSD and Princeton SoA. He has taught introductory courses in history and theory of architecture and architectural photography at Harvard (2010-11) and Princeton, lead design studios at Harvard and the Boston Architectural College (2011).
Evangelos’ practice work has been featured in international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2006), the 6th Biennale of Young Greek Architects (2010) and in magazines such as MARK, FRAME and Conditions. His essays and articles have been presented in architectural conferences at Harvard, Columbia and Boston University, as well as in specialized journals, publications and exhibition catalogs.
He has worked as an architect in Greece (2003-09) and Holland at OMA (2007-08). In parallel to practice, he worked as a research assistant at AUTh, Harvard GSD and Princeton SoA. He has taught introductory courses in history and theory of architecture and architectural photography at Harvard (2010-11) and Princeton, lead design studios at Harvard and the Boston Architectural College (2011).
Evangelos’ practice work has been featured in international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2006), the 6th Biennale of Young Greek Architects (2010) and in magazines such as MARK, FRAME and Conditions. His essays and articles have been presented in architectural conferences at Harvard, Columbia and Boston University, as well as in specialized journals, publications and exhibition catalogs.
