Lecture by Sotiria Alexiadou entitled "(Re)Construction of Thessaloniki after World War II & Decoding the post-war apartment building, aka ‘polykatoikia’" on 1/12/2022 13:00 at the Amphitheatre.

Synopsis
Currently, the majority of Thessaloniki’s built environment is the result of the reconstruction of the city after World War ΙΙ. The urban and building reconstruction development strategies were common throughout the big cities of Greece. However, Thessaloniki developed under particular circumstances due to the starting point of its’ urban planning and the special conditions and regulations that were applied for the building development of the city. World War II and the Greek Civil War interrupted the city’s planning program that was established after the big fire of 1917. Thessaloniki development entered its post-war period under the pre-war urban planning and building regulation, but the changes in the political-social-economic areas, imposed modifications.

This lecture will focus on the post-war (re)construction of the city and the architectural development of buildings for public use, social housing and especially the private buildings of the "Ordinary Everyday Modernism" of Thessaloniki, mainly during the period 1947 -1974, up to the present day. In addition, the role of post-war legislation in shaping the volume and image of the post-war apartment building, aka ‘polykatoikia’,will be presented.

Bio
Sotiría Alexiádouwas born in Thessaloniki. After studying Architecture at the University of Thessaly (2007), she attended the MSc. in Urban Strategies of the University of Applied Arts [Universität für Angewandte Kunst] in Vienna (2010). A few years ago, she studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki following the interdisciplinary MSc. in Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Monuments (2016). Recently, she successfully defended her PhD Thesis in the Architecture department of the University of Thessaly (2022).

She has participated in teaching teams at the University of Cyprus, the University of Thessaly, and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. As an architect, she has participated in architectural competitions with distinctions. Her research and architecture projects have been presented at conferences, seminars, and exhibitions. Her work has been published in conference proceedings, collective volumes, journals, catalogs, and websites.

Her research interests concern the mechanisms of urban transformation, the evolution of postwar architecture and its future in terms of protection, restoration, and reuse.