Friday, February 23, 2007

Technopolis - [Herakleion]

Technopolis is the largest complex of its kind to ever be built in Crete. It is located in Ammoudara, a coastal suburb of Heraklion , the island’s largest city. The 7000sq.m complex comprises of five cinemas, an outdoor theater, the ‘Piazza’ bar/cafeteria, the ‘Food & Grill’ restaurant, two bars, an internet café, shops and a kiosk.



The design development was guided by the fact that the existing structure was a group of separate buildings, and it was felt that these needed to somehow be unified. Additionally the design of the complex had to be considered on a long, narrow site linking the main road and the sea-side.



The key design concept was therefore to create a characteristic outdoor element linking the various spaces, guiding visitors through the complex, from the entrance, to the courtyards, to the outdoor theatre overlooking the sea.





In the interiors materials were used to continue directed movement, guiding the visitor through space and connecting spaces. In the main lobby of the building this was achieved through the use of organic, veneered wood, taking the shape of wave-like strips starting at the entrance of the lobby and continuing around to the popcorn bar.





The architects are the recently famous anamorphosis team.



Sources:
-------------------
http://www.anamorphosis-architects.com/projects/technopolis/technopolis_project.html
http://www.texnopolispark.gr/

Monday, February 19, 2007

Eugenides Foundation Planetarium - [Athens]

The new Athens Planetarium is the proud offspring of the Eugenides Foundation, and the successor of the old Planetarium (the first in Greece, built around 1966). The building was delivered in the end of 2003, and at this time it was considered to have the most advanced equipment all over the world.




The central dome of the building has a diameter of 25 m and a total surface of 950 sq.m.
The planetarium has 280 seats equipped with interactive controls. The total area of the auditorium is 1450 sq.m. There are 3.000 shows and an amazing number of 600.000 visitors every year.




The equipment of the planetarium is quite impressive:
-6.1 Surround Sound
-40.000 Watt through 44 sound boxes in7 clusters
-2 Virtual Reality Emulators (3D SkyVision)
-1 Astral Projector (Digital Sky)
-12 video projectors for the emulators
-3 video projector of special effects
-3 pan-tilt platforms
-48 projectors of special effects
-Special Moon-Sun-Planet video projectors
-Laser krypton
-11.700 LEDs




The final phase of the construction was assigned to J&P Avax


Sources:
http://www.eugenfound.edu.gr
http://www.jp-avax.gr/Default.aspx?cat=3⊂=40&sub2=79&ItemID=243