IN-PERSON: Livable Cities – New York
Abstract
Cities are contemporary cultural landscapes, however, in countries with a long history, such as Greece, it is very common for livable urban spaces to be adjacent to archaeological sites that usually include important monuments and extensive archaeological findings. Therefore, in order to avoid the risk of urban fragmentation and to develop sustainable urban planning, strategies for the promotion of cultural heritage and its integration into the public space, aligned with official documents related to conservation and restoration policies and practices, such as the Segesta Declaration and the Valletta Convention, are considered crucial. The city of Ancient Messene constitutes a paradigm of great cultural landscape in the South of Greece, where the management of the site develops policies and practices to promote a reference meeting point for leisure, aesthetic education and citizen awareness. Management initiatives to organize cultural events, acting performances, art installations, open access workshops and research projects, in cooperation with local stakeholders and national authorities, aim to provide accessible cultural heritage sites that can embrace different aspects of contemporary life. In addition, specialized technological applications and facilities are used to improve accessibility for people with disabilities while the technological upgrading is continuous, providing a multimodal sensory experience by integrating augmented and virtual reality systems. In this respect, the spatial accessibility and the multiplicity of cultural references applied in the Ancient Messene, combined with the emerging multi-sensory experience of the site, could be exemplary implementations for other archaeological sites, proposing non-segregated living public spaces and beneficially enhancing public life.
Amalia-Maria Konidi, Architect and Researcher. MSc Department of Architecture, Protection of Monuments, Conservation and Restoration of Historic Buildings and Sites, NTUA. Member of the Council of Architectural Heritage of the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage.
Eleni Maistrou, Architect, Emeritus Professor NTUA. Scientific Supervisor of the research project InterArch. Specialization in legislation and management of monuments, protection and design of historical buildings and sites. Member of the scientific committee in the postgraduate Programme Protection of Monuments. President of the Council of Architectural Heritage of the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage. Member of the scientific committee of Icomos for the Conservation of Historic Cities.
Constantinos Moraitis, Architect, Emeritus Professor NTUA. Coordinator in postgraduate Programme “Architecture-Spatial Design” of NTUA and in Erasmus Mundus Master in Architecture,Landscape,Archaeology”. Specialization in History and Theory of Landscape, Architectural Composition of Landscape: Natural and Cultural Qualities in Landscape Design. DEA Ethics and Political Philosophy (Univ. de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne). Master’s Diploma in Hellenic Mediterranean Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies Panteion Univ.
Petros Themelis, Archaeologist, Emeritus Professor, Former curator of antiquities. Chairman of the Society of Messenian Archaeological Studies. Runs the excavation and restoration project in ancient Messene, for which he was awarded 2 Europa Nostra awards. Lifetime-member of the Arch. Society at Athens, Arch. Institute of America, Society of Euboean Studies, German Arch. Institute, Austrian Arch. Institute, member of the Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments. He was honored with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Phoenix by the President of the Hellenic Republic.
Katerina Boulougoura, Architect, Researcher. MSc Department of Architecture, Architecture – Spatial Design, Urban and Regional Planning, NTUA.
Karolina Moretti, Architect, Researcher. MSc & Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Architecture, Research in Architecture: Architectural Design-Space-Culture, NTUA. Member of the International Urban Symposium.
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Wednesday 14th June, 2023