Invitation at the MC Redux workshop, 49th Dimitria Festival in Thessaloniki (2014). Exhibition and publication.
Design: atelier pm (Maria Stefanidis + Panagiotis Tsimpiridis)
“The incorporation of a public building into the urban web is not just an issue of architecture. It also requires its incorporation into the lives of the city’s residents.
The return of the (former) Maison Crystal building to the city of Thessaloniki will be explored in an architectural planning workshop, the subject of which will be the building itself.
Architects and designers will experiment on possible and improbable scenarios for its future use.
For their plans they will have to take into account the proposals and visions of the public which will be made available to them in the framework of the workshop.
The creators listen to the city (and provide results). This is an opportunity for citizens to participate in the planning of their daily lives. “
The MC Redux team
Open 24/7. atelier pm proposal.
“ What this city is missing are free open spaces”. Scale Tofit
“ A space where anyone could read, work, play, create, relax”. Barbara Doumanidou
“A meeting point…, but also a place of active and direct participation and conformation”. Mai Self
Among the citizens’ proposals delivered at the online think-tank, several were identified as descriptions of Maison Crystal as an open social gathering space.
Maison Crystal’s cultural character, in this case, is composed of the –organized or spontaneous- gatherings of people that each time participate – consciously or not – in its creation. Being open, the space does not need a predetermined schedule and hosts its guests-configurators on a twenty-four-hour base.
To satisfy the citizens’ desire for an open social space, Maison Crystal is organized as a single space without divisions and with open access from the waterfront.
For the sake of flexibility and durability, the space consists of the basic elements of a continuous floor, a utilitarian roof -as a receptor of equipment and lighting fixtures- and neutral walls. It is furnished with mobile, heavy, elongated elements for seating that can be set up in various ways. The elongated glazing with the view to and from the sea is also kept open to the osmosis on both sides.