Diploma Projects Exhibition 2020-22
Department of Architecture, Polytechnic School, University of Thessaly

Duration: 31 May - 30 June 2023

Opening: Wednesday, 31 May 2023 // 19:00

Ground floor - Central corridor, DArch UTh, Pedion Areos, Volos

The exhibition presents the 78 best Diploma projects completed at the Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly (DArch UTh) in the years 2020-21 (52) and 2021-22 (26). It will be on display from 31 May to 30 June 2023 and seeks to showcase the efforts and achievements of recent graduates as well as to shed light on the dynamic changes in the educational culture of the Department as it was shaped in a critical juncture.

In these two years, the diploma projects, and all educational activities, persisted amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented public health protection measures. The Exhibition marks the return to activities in physical spaces and the reconnection of the academic community. It provides an opportunity to reflect critically on a condition that has tested not only individual and collective limits but also established methods of teaching in architectural education and to reconsider its priorities in the face of multiple crises: from pandemics to climate change.

The exhibition occupies the main corridor of the ground floor, where students, teachers, employees meet every day. It thus seeks to contribute to the re-appropriation of the building as a common place of reference and to emphasize the connections between the broader academic activities of the Department and the reflections, new ideas and design experiments that are developed primarily in diploma project through the close collaboration of faculty and students. Each of the 78 projects, and the exhibition as a whole, underline the importance of architectural education as a crucial field of coexistence, dialogue, creation, and fostering of hopeful perspectives for the future.

We dedicate this event to the memory of our dear friend, colleague, and scholar Spyros Papadopoulos (1966-2023) who passed away prematurely. The diploma projects he supervised as a faculty member of the Department since 2000-some of which stand out in this year's exhibition-are only part of his multifaceted research and teaching work that left a strong imprint on the identity and community of the Department. Closing the 2023-academic year with the Exhibition as a collective praxis, we make a first attempt to come to terms with the hard-to-fill void left by Spyros Papadopoulos with a celebratory, exuberant, and optimistic event, as we imagine he would have wanted it to be.

You can download the exhibition poster and the catalogue.

Curated on behalf of the Department of Architecture
Paniyiris, Costis
Micocci, Fabiano
Symeonidou, Ioanna
Phokaides, Petros

Supported by
Diamantouli, Εliki
Lioka, Styliani-Georgia
Marou, Thalia
Μitsimponas, Dimitrios
Savvidou, Stella
Topaloglou, Eleni 

Laboratory of Environmental Communication & Audiovisual Documentation:
Eleni Pispiri
Giorgos Kalaouzis

Administration:
Nancy Gata

Department Secretary:
Dimoulas,Christos
Koniari, Sofia