Thessaloniki is a city closely related to the cinema lifetime and history. Currently, the city harbour is being upgraded into a highly cultural activity area, due to the functioning of three Museums: Cinema, Photography & Modern Art, and to many cinemas and cultural happenings which take place at the first pier.

The thesis proposal refers to the construction of a Film Library – Cinema Research Centre in the first pier of the harbour. The Film Library will constitute a non-speculative organisation aiming at research, concentration, reservation and provision of the greek and international cinema heritage. Today, the Film Library is housed in a part of the Cinema Museum, where it has a limited function and usage. By transferring the Film Library to the new building, the creation of a self-sustained space in combination with providing the necessary infrastructure for cinema research activities, is being proposed.

Initial concept of the synthesis is the construction of a film screen on the main side of the building, visible from the city’s seafront.

The aim of the synthesis is to create a public path which will commence from the Cinema Museum and end inside the new building. This path is combined with the functioning of the Film Museum, but also consists of other paths which already exist according to the current activities of the pier.

Morphologically the building comprises of two different parts. The first one accommodates the main functionalities of the Film Library, whereas the other has a more public character and offers activities which relate to the visitor and the wider public. The basic features of a cinema theatre –namely the projection cabin, the pit and the screen- composed a synthesis instrument of the central part of the atrium.

The pier itself, in the whole building synthesis, functions as a marina, as sailing nowadays is a recreational activity and boats cross the Thermaikos Gulf regularly on a daily basis. Thus the pier formulates a seawater axis in line with the seafront of the city.