Architectural Design V-IX: Fountain Theater (GD I. Sklavounos)

Abstract

Regenerative construction in post-fire Attica, GreeceIn August 2024, wildfires swept through the Varnavas region north of Athens, Greece, destroying approximately 5,000 hectares of land within the Municipality of Marathon alone.

Objective

Materials and Making Develop practical expertise in natural building materials—earth, stone, timber, straw, lime—understanding their physical properties, structural behavior, and environmental performance. Learn to design and test building elements using an assigned structural system (rammed earth, earth blocks, light straw-clay, or stone masonry), producing construction details, scale models, and 1:1 prototypes. Gain hands-on experience with material preparation, mixing, and assembly through workshops at ETH and in Greece. Process and Participation Learn to design the construction process itself, not only the built outcome. Develop strategies for organizing participatory construction that engages both specialists and non-specialists in meaningful building activities. Explore representation methods—drawings, diagrams, visual narratives—that communicate complex construction knowledge to diverse audiences. Understand how decisions about construction sequence, material sourcing, and labor organization shape architectural design. Climate and Resilience Engage with post-disaster contexts, understanding how architecture can contribute to community recovery after climate-related events. Study the fire resistance, thermal performance, and carbon footprint of natural building systems, learning to design for climate adaptation. Develop the capacity to situate building design within broader site and landscape conditions, coordinating architectural interventions with water management, vegetation, and existing infrastructure. Documentation and Communication Develop skills in documenting construction processes and material experiments. Learn to produce clear technical drawings—plans, sections, construction details, axonometrics—that communicate building logic at multiple scales. Practice translating specialist knowledge into accessible formats that can guide participatory construction and engage broader publics.

Content

In August 2024, wildfires swept through the Varnavas region north of Athens, Greece, destroying approximately 5,000 hectares of land within the Municipality of Marathon alone. Among the losses was a small building serving the local theater group at the Palia Vrysi (Old Fountain) open-air theater—a structure that functioned as dressing room, storage, and meeting place for the community's cultural life. This design studio takes the reconstruction of this building as its starting point, inviting students to explore what it means to build anew with natural materials in a contemporary context, and how participatory, regenerative construction can respond to post-disaster community needs. The crafts collective Boulouki is currently developing plans to replace the destroyed structure with a new building constructed from earthen and other natural materials—among the first public community buildings made of such materials in modern Greece. Taking inspiration from this project, the studio invites students to design a building of approximately 50 square meters using natural building systems, designing not only the architectural object but also the construction process itself, in a way that engages local residents and non-specialist participants. Students work in groups, developing deep expertise in natural building materials and techniques—including rammed earth, earth block systems, light straw-clay and timber framing, and stone masonry with earth and lime mortars. The emphasis is on thorough understanding: how these materials behave, how they are sourced and prepared, and how they come together in the fundamental elements of construction—walls, floors, columns, and roofs. Students will develop their designs through 1:1 mockups, construction models, and detailed representations of the building process. The studio explores natural building through three interconnected frameworks. Materials and Making examines material properties, fabrication, testing, and performance. Process and Participation focuses on designing construction processes and developing representation methods that communicate building knowledge to diverse audiences. Climate and Resilience engages with climate-responsive design, thermal performance, and strategies for long-term durability and post-disaster recovery. Students will visit Athens and Varnavas during an integrated Seminar Week for site analysis and hands-on construction experience, working alongside the local community and craftspeople.

Resources