The general district of Faliro, was mentioned as the first and oldest sea outpost of the city of Athens, as far back as in the ancient years. Today it still comprises its shortest route to the sea.
It is due to this property, that the coast line of this general district has undergone numerous modifications during the last 40 years and that there has been made also a plethora of propositions with respect to its utilization.
Up to the 1950’s, this area was considered the prime bath of the citizens of Athens.After the 1970’s however the coastline suffered a series of terraforming which came between the intimate relationship of the people who lived there with the sea. These operations have been taking place separately from each other and luck consistency, since they are not part of any major evolution plan. The reasons of this are mainly of financial nature. There are a lot of conflicts, due mainly to private interests as to the taking advantage of the area.
It must be mentioned that the most important and of grand scale reformation occurred during the Olympics of 2004 and consists of the formation of two Olympic poles (Cape of Faliro-Faliro Delta and Elliniko) and the re-instatement of the tram line along the coastal axis.
In this essay, a part of the above mentioned coastline, from the Faliro cape up to St. Kosma (Elliniko) was examined in order to assess its present state and to discover any malfunctioning areas, created by the reformations that occurred to the coastal front. A part of the examined area was selected to be resolved graphically. It extends from Flisvos to the Alimos marine and was selected because it has suffered the least consequences of the reformations. It is the single remaining open space of the general district that managed to preserve its immediate access to the sea and to develop some unique area characteristics as well. The city’s contact to the coastal front is however violently disrupted by the existence of the greatly sized Alimos marine.
The goal of this endeavor is the reinforcement of the city’s connection to the coastal front. To present the opportunity of a better interconnection of the partial areas by reorganizing parts of them functionally and thematically.
Towards these means it is proposed to :
• Design a new square, open to the sea
• Transform the Pikrodafni creek into a linear park
• Transform the Alimos marine into an isle of natural habitat, which apart from marine usage will also offer space for recreational activities, and
• The interconnection of the above areas via a street network for pedestrian and bicyclists.
All of the above should lead to a smooth transition from the urban to the coastal front, with respect too the natural surroundings and having men and their activities as a point of refference.