Technology museum - [Thessaloniki]

Thessaloniki Science Center & Technology Museum is an organization that promotes the popularization of science. It was founded back in 1978. The new building was finished during the end of 2004. The building complex covers an area of 14.000 sq.m. in the region of Thermi, near Thessaloniki. The construction budget was 29.000.000€.

The new building of the Technological Museum was constructed on land granted by the municipality of Thermi with a total area of 48.000 sq.m.

The complex consists of:

• Technology museum: Contains exhibitions about the history of science and technology. The museum hosts a reproduction of the ancient "Antikythera" computing mechanism that has been dated to about 80 B.C.
  

• Planetarium: A Hemispherical screen with a diameter of 18m and 150 seats.

• Cosmotheater: A widescreen cinema (17m x 23m) with 300 seats.

• Virtual Reality Machine: A room with 18 seats with 3D images and movement

The architectural conception and design was by "Tzonos - Hoipel & Hoipel"

Official page:
http://www.tmth.edu.gr/

CEDEFOP - [Thessaloniki]

Cedefop – the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, established in 1975, is a European agency that helps promote and develop vocational education and training in the European Union (EU). Originally based in Berlin, Cedefop was one of the first specialised and decentralised agencies set up. In 1995, Cedefop’s head office was transferred to Thessaloniki, while it operates a liaison office in Brussels.

Cedefop works to promote a European area of lifelong learning throughout an enlarged EU. It does this by providing information on and analyses of vocational education and training systems, policies, research and practice.

Cedefop presents its information in electronic and printed media and also brings people together through the study visits, conferences and seminars it organises.

The CEDEFOP building in Thessaloniki is a 4 storey complex, with a basement covering a total area of about 9.500 sq.m.

The owner is the "Hellenic Employment Organization" and the architect is the lately famous Theofanis Bobotis. The construction cost was: 4.200.000€.

sources:
http://www.marneris.gr
http://www.cedefop.europa.eu

"Air Force Academy" - [Athens]

The Greek Air Force Academy has commissioned Meta - Architects for constructing a new Library and an Auditorium (Amphitheater) for its "Tatoi" campus.

The total area of the buildings is 6.000 sq.m and the project budget was 4.000.000€. The structural system of the buildings is comprised of concrete walls and columns which support steel trusses that in some cases extend beyond the concrete elements. The facades are insulated metal panels and double glazed windows supported on steel frame structure. The roof consists of corrugated insulated metal panels.

The Amphitheater occupies a total space of 3500 sqm. The main auditorium represents 1400 sqm of the total, the Reception Hall 1000 sqm, the Lecture Halls 800 sqm and the auxiliary spaces 300 sqm.

The Library occupies a space of 2500 sqm. This is broken down into the reading space of 800 sqm, the stacks of 1000 sqm, the administration and receiving space of 500 sqm and the supplementary spaces 200 sqm.

You can watch the construction progress here:
http://www.meta-arch.gr/pages/pubworks/set_en.htm

Semiramis Hotel - [Athens]

The Semiramis Boutique Hotel is situated in the heart of the green and rich suburb of Kifissia.

The famous industrial designer Karim Rashid was commissioned by Dakis Joannou to design and create Athens' first visionary design hotel. Rashid's design philosophy stems from a refusal to accept the day-to-day environment.

Semiramis consists of 52 rooms: 42 balcony rooms with pool or park view, 6 poolside bungalows, 3 penthouse studios, 1 semiramis penthouse suite. All rooms feature in-room cable TV, DVD and CD supported by built-in sound system, portable phones, high-speed internet access, air conditioning, multi-bar, and safe box.

Pool bungalows are built independently from the main building and have easy access to the pool and their own private garden. In-room facilities include rotating 42-inch plasma televisions with stereo sound, cordless headphones, and remote-controlled utilities such as hvac, curtain control, 2.4 GHz cordless phones, and digital locks.

As another unusual touch, visitors may, by pressing a button, scroll messages on their doors such as 'privacy' or 'please make up my room'.There is also video projection, holopro glass technology, dot matrix LEDs and other digital projection media throughout the hotel.

The Semiramis offers a meeting room of 150 square meters with glass facades

"Hotels today make you feel like you're living in the previous century. That's the last thing I want to do." - Karim Rashid

Official site:
http://www.semiramisathens.com

THOLOS "Virtual Theater" - [Athens]

Tholos is a hemispherical "virtual reality" theater in the installations of "Hellenic Cosmos", the thematic park of IME (Ίδρυμα Μείζωνος Ελληνισμού - Foundation of the Hellenic World).

It has 132 seats and a total surface of 2.300 sq.m. , the construction works lasted for 3 years and it will fully operate from 2007.

The spectators can walk in the ancient "Agora", the street of "Panathinaia", the temple of Hphaistos and many other ancient monuments.

12 different projectors are used and 42 CPU's with 48GB of memory.

The spectator can choose in which direction to move using stereoscopic glasses and a navigation system next to his seat.

The president of the Hellenic Democracy inaugurated the new building (4.Dec.2006).
The responsible architect is George Andreadis.

sources:
http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=760279
http://www.tholos254.gr/gr/index.html
http://www.adis.gr

Bennigan's - [Thessaloniki]

Bennigan's Opens Resort-Style Restaurant in Thessaloniki, Greece

Bennigan's Grill and Tavern has broken the mold with its latest international restaurant opening in Thessaloniki, Greece. The 11,000 square-foot beachfront restaurant is a first of its kind for the casual dining chain.

“This is a completely new venture for Bennigan's, said Vince Runco, president of worldwide franchising and executive vice president for Metromedia Casual Dining, which oversees the Bennigan's concept. “The restaurant appeals to local residents as well as vacationers with its resort-style atmosphere and casual dining feel.

The restaurant overlooks the Aegean Sea and features an outside pool with a swim up bar, a walk up bar, volleyball courts, children's play area and seating for 400 guests. The restaurant's interior caters to the city's lively nightlife with a club-style bar, couches and multiple televisions. The concept was developed by franchisee Crown Resorts and is the group's third Bennigan's location.

This restaurant marks Bennigan's 51st international location and the company plans to continue expanding overseas.

S-MALL - [Trikala]

A new commercial mall in the city of Trikala

OLD City - [Volos]

A new shopping area is going to be created in the city of Volos, in central Greece. The goal of the developers is to create a place where small shops can collaborate in order to survive, so as to achieve better prices, largest space and variety, and of course easiness.

The building Complex is centrally located and consists of the old factory of "Germanikou" which is going to be renovated, as it is declared a "listed building". OLD City is going to be created in 15.000 sq.m. and will have 12.500 of covered space.

There will be five buildings in total:

A: 400 sq.m. ground floor (200 x 2 for a bank and a restaurant)
B: 1000 sq.m. ground floor (28 stands for clothing and apparel)
Γ: 2250 sq.m. ground floor (84 stands for food and vegetables)
Δ: 1500 sq.m. ground floor (39 stands for a variety of shops)
Δa: 1500 sq.m first floor (34 stands for services)
E: 3.600 sq.m ground floor (61 stands for a variety of shops)

Sources:
http://www.oldcity.gr

Citylink - [Athens]

Citylink is the biggest retail store in the Balkans. It is owned by Piraeus Bank.



The historical building stands between two subway stations and close to three large hotels ("Grande Bretagne", "King George II", "Athens Plaza"), the Parliament, the National Garden, opposite splendid architectural creations, the Library, the Catholic Church and the University. Citylink has a total area of 65.000 sq.m..

Citylink - an investment over 250 mil Euros - will host the "ATTICA", a department store for famous brands, restaurants, health & fitness club and the two renovated theaters, "Pallas" and "Aliki".

Sources:
http://www.atticadps.gr/TheBuilding

Links:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=206665

"Ethniki Asfalistiki" Headquarters - [Athens]

The new headquarters of "Ethniki Asfalistiki" (Εθνική Ασφαλιστική), a mainstream greek insurance company


It is an eponymous architectural work, bearing the signature of Mario Botta. The complex consists of two buildings. The first one is used completely by "Ethniki Asfalistiki", with a total area of 30.000 sq.m. while the second one (4.500 sq.m) will be rented. According to the rumors, "Ethniki Asfalistiki" is asking for 23E/sq.m. which is considered exceptionally high for the standards of the local market. It has to be mentioned that "Ethniki Asfalistiki" is releasing 19.000 sq.m. of office space.



The construction phase was between 2004-2006. The whole group of architects is Mario Botta, along with Irena Sakellaridou and Morfo Papanikolaou, the same group that has deisgned the new headquarters of the National Bank of Greece

Sources:
www.botta.ch

Museum of the Hellenic World - [Athens]

The design proposal focuses on the concept of a museum of history - not original historical exhibits. The design principle is based on the spatio-psychoanalytic concept of lack (deeply routed in Greek culture) as a critique against the notions of 'collection'/ 'acquisition'. Both as sense of loss of original pieces as well as creative spatial process, lack, led to the formulation of a new museological approach integrating exhibition and builiding into one. Spatiality is conceived, psychoanalytically, as the mode of history, and highlighted both as the major diachronic documentation of Greek civilisation (recurring, homeomorphing, collocating) and the main concept of the building: a spatial monument as opposed to a symbolic memorial.

The proposed continuous strip, self-evolving across the building, produces homeomorphic curved schemes in three distinct, spatial gestures/installations: a) the amphitheatre introducing Classical Antiquity, b) the dome introducing Byzantium, c) the sheltering cell introducing Modern times (17th - early 20th century), covering the overall museum space. Accordingly, three distinct lighting treatments are proposed: a) bright daylight, small sharp shadows, b) indirect, ambient, no shadows, c) cinematic side-lighting, long shadows. Yet, the strip surface employs a gradient synthesis of materials and construction techniques - varying from: a) tectonic, marble, stone, b) cast material, c) timber, glass and metal structures. Client: Foundation of Hellenic World, Athens. Total exhibition space: 6000 sq.m

The building includes an exhibition area, and a Virtual Reality Cave (370 sq.m). It is located on Piraeus Street. It also includes 3250 sq. m of parking space, auxiliary spaces of 1550 sq.m and and visitor's service space of 1000 sq.m


Source:
http://www.anamorphosis-architects.com/projects/ime/project_IME.html