The creation of the 38.000 acres lake Karla is expected to change gradually the nature of the Thessaly plain. This project is characterized as a project of multiple feasibility, having the environment as its main consideration. It has also significant development, production and social implications. It has appeared a unique opportunity to partially restore the antecedent ecosystem and operations of the past. The creation of the lake aspires to be an important step for the management of the natural and anthropogenic environment of the region based on the principles and guidelines of sustainable development.
The degree thesis project is a suggestion of this great development task with facilities which have been principally aimed at upgrading the region, raising the awareness of citizens for the protection of the environment and also creating a pole of attraction both by visitors and environmental scholars.
The intervention region is located at the north east area of the lake, at a point which the water meets the ground without interrupted by the levees. This area is going to be implanted so that to have as a result a new and more rich environment and also to attract the fauna which has been quite reduced the recent years.
The first design approaches based on the preexistent linings and axes of the irrigation channels, the agricultural parcels, the grids generated by the existence of orchards and the new projects and dams that have been constructed for the creation of the lake. The final outcome was a creation of three axes which gained a notional nature as each of them has different uses, recreation, information and research. The connection of these axes has been made through routes which have the form of piers. One of the main objectives of this project was the intervention to be reversible and that is why materials such as wood, reeds and stone have been used, materials that grow old naturally and have little impact on the environment.
The proposed facilities are as follows: information centre, research centre, boat station, hostels and coffee house. The building complex includes also parking areas, rest areas, plant and fish farms and watching towers.