Nothing lasts forever.
Every physical object, including human existence, is subject to decay. Yet through the facility of memory, a trace remains of things that have gone before, both as tangible reminders as well as personal interpretations. Within the built environment, architecture has been said to perform as a mnemonic device.
As the architect and theorist Bernard Tschumi said, buildings stand in mute witnesses to human events. While architecture may represent an externalization of human actions and identity, buildings can be demolished someday.
If we accept that even the built environment is diminished, what remains then of human actions in this world? How might architecture be re-engaged to eternalize memory?
The question of this Diplomatic Thesis is, how the trace of humanity of a city can be preserved in the urban fabric, when a city is an urban palimpsest?
In the first part of the thesis, maps with various details about building, people and historic details are presented. In the second part an app was created, the use of which highlights the information and details recorded in the first part, while creating an interactive route in the neighborhood of Metaxourgeio.
The aim of this Diplomatic Thesis is to capture the Memory of the City by an expert citizen and to record routes / narratives. It is the creation of an experience in the urban fabric of Athens and the preservation of the history of the neighborhood of Metaxourgeio. It is a new way to observe the city.
