A proposal from George Batzios Architects for the Konaki Averof Cultural Center in Greece uses a cutting edge, sustainable approach to revive a deeply historical site. The design intertwines elements of architecture and agriculture to refit an existing structure with reference to the Thessalian plains on which it lies. The new architecture recreates the existing envelopes with straw cladding, regenerating the "golden environment" which defined the place in the late 19th century.

Courtesy of Georges Batzios Architects

A proposal from George Batzios Architects for the Konaki Averof Cultural Center in Greece uses a cutting edge, sustainable approach to revive a deeply historical site. The design intertwines elements of architecture and agriculture to refit an existing structure with reference to the Thessalian plains on which it lies. The new architecture recreates the existing envelopes with straw cladding, regenerating the "golden environment" which defined the place in the late 19th century.The structure is scattered among the ruins of buildings in the Thessalian plains, a vast site that once functioned as the granary of the Greek territory and beyond. Georges Batzios propose that the historical architecture cannot simply be reinterpreted as a copy, as the landscape has evolved to the extent that the original architecture is no longer functional. The urban life that existed there has become superseded by the growing urbanization of ne...