The New “Boardwalk Empire” in Thessaloniki, Greece| The GRID

January 25 2013

The New “Boardwalk Empire” in Thessaloniki, Greece

Taking a stroll by the sea can be a priceless experience. This is why in coastal towns, like Thessaloniki, Greece, the waterfront is one of the busiest parts of the city. And that is the reason why every citizen of Thessaloniki cannot wait for the regeneration of the new waterfront to be completed.

Based on what we have already seen, we are sure it’s going to be spectacular!

The regeneration project of the new seafront of Thessaloniki began after an architectural competition, and was awarded by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture as the most important public project of 2008. Designed by Pr. Nikiforidis, B. Cuomo, R. Castro and S. Denissof (architects awarded for several urban design and landscape architecture projects), the regeneration project is currently in progress and is expected to be completed by June 2013. The fundamental concept of the proposal is to create a continuous linear space with a sequence of smaller differentiated spaces with varying qualities and uses.

There are two main areas of the project:

The pedestrian area, an esplanade next to the seafront, linear and continuous, which offers an uninterrupted field of vision of the sea and the beautiful city as you walk by;
Planted spaces – gardens that have many different uses for leisure time and sports.

It is really interesting to observe these planted spaces because they all share a modern design, but each one of them has a different name, structure, and use. Among them, the ones that I personally prefer are: the Garden of Music, the Rose Garden, the Garden of Memory and the Garden of Sound.

Describing the project in numbers:

5.5 km – the length of the architectural intervention;
13 gardens;
600 trees and 10,000 bushes already planted since 2010;
2,500 more trees and other plants expected to be planted;
3.5 km – the length of the bicycle path;
5 playgrounds;
44,000,000 Euros – the construction budget.

Personally, I look forward to taking my first long walk on the brand new waterfront of Thessaloniki. Is there a place like this in your city?

Credits: Images and data linked to sources.

Dafni Dimitriadi

Dafni Dimitriadi is a student of Architecture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her numerous experiences in participating in architectural competitions have helped her understand the importance of research and design. She is interested in building and urban design restoration and aims to continue her studies in order to gain more knowledge related to these fields. She is an active volunteer and has participated in many interesting projects, including Open House Thessaloniki. Currently, she lives in Thessaloniki and through her blogs aims to explore developments associated with architecture and urban design.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2013 at 9:35 am and is filed under Architecture, Dafni Dimitriadi, Environment, Environmental Design, Land Use, Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “The New “Boardwalk Empire” in Thessaloniki, Greece”

Alina Magou Says:
January 25th, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Great job! It was an enjoyable article..
Anastasia Schweizer Says:
January 26th, 2013 at 6:58 am
Excellent article! I’m looking forward to talking a walk along the new seafront of Thessaloniki!
Dafni Dimitriadi Says:
January 30th, 2013 at 3:22 pm
I am really glad that you enjoyed it ! It would be great if you could visit Thessaloniki soon. The city is getting more and more beautiful !