Immigrants are every man, woman and child that is forced to abandon their birthplace, fearing persecution due to war or because of their beliefs. They are subjects of a state without a homeland, that desperately seek a new safe haven in a new country that will shelter them, in hopes that they will feel safe again. This nightmare became reality for the millions of Greeks that were forced to abandon their homes at the start of the 20th century.
 

An estimated one-point-five (1.5) million Greeks from Pontus, the Greek-West and other Greek colonies of Anatolia, were forced to start new lives under harsh conditions in mainland Greece. Approximately 100 years later, with the Greek state experiencing similar circumstances, it is imperative to pay tribute to the people that formed the cornerstone of our society, arts and culture of modern Greece.

The goal of this dissertation is to design a museum that will become a conservatory of the way of life of the Greek immigrants. The museum will be situated on the east side of Nea’s Paralia (N. Paralia) of Thessaloniki next to the Concert Hall of Thessaloniki. As it will become part of the underway urban reform of N. Paralia, this project aims to preserve the natural features of the landscape around it. By preserving the existing balance of the sea and green spaces of the area.

The vision for the museum is that it will be hosted on a sloping floor at the ground floor of the building, where small protrusions will extend from its floor. The remaining surface of the sloping floor will be used as a park. The parking lot, which is what the plot of land that the museum will be built is used for, has been re-designed and is placed at the far end of the park. This will help the area to decongest and it will allow the visitors to form a better bond with the environment that they find themselves in.