Educational and professional work

1. ARCHITECT-URBAN DESIGNER
march ud(merit), dip.arch(honors)
louisa.varelidi@gmail.com

3. Address: 17 Prospect Road,
CONTACT DETAILS
NW2 2JT , London, United Kingdom
E-mail: louisa.varelidi@gmail.com
phone: 07407389629
personal website:
http://cargocollective.com/louisavarelidi
Curative Parasite I thesis project I MArch Urban Design I 2011
INDEX
Housing complex at Perama I thesis project I Dip.Arch I 2009
Steets of Water_streams within the urban space I 2008
Un_Folding spaces I 2007
Professional work and Competitions

5. CURATIVE PARASITE
(Thesis project_MArch Urban Design)
Given the current situation in Fener, with its complex social network,
the historical timber building stock and the strong opposition of the
inhabitants to the upcoming gentrification plans, we propose an
alternative of how the city can sustain itself through a progression
of events and processing activities.
We experiment with the reuse of left-over space and material
through the setting up of an enabling infrastructure that is slowly
taken over by local inhabitants and turned into self-managed spac-
es; those spaces will gradually become productive, following a par-
ticipative process with minimum cost. Elements that are considered
as trash or debris can make up the raw material for the inhabitants
to reconstruct their own identical space. Adopting a DIY attitude,
curating the built environment and involving the people, will gradu-
ally result in adding a new layer of interventions to the area in the
form of a temporal parasitic condition, which will find its own way to
evolve through time.
This project is about decisions and empowerment. It is an attempt
to explore alternative ways of handling urban design by redefin-
ing the role of the designer and making him a tool to prepare the
ground for a grassroots revival of a neighborhood that is currently at
the edge of gentrification.

6. DIY constructions and manual
Section showing future condition of the neighbourhood

7. documentation of thr local inhabitants

8. Section showing interventions and space inbetween
timeline_diagram of the dvelopment proccess

9. model of one housing block

10. STRATEGIC PLAN _2011-2014
In opposition to UNESCO’S fragmented proposal, this project adopts a different vision about how our interventions can function in the area. We
believe that the best way is to create cores which will radiate and expand over time. A four to five year plan is a good amount of time to test the
project. The proccess starts by establishing two cores at the site which can evolve through time.
After this experimental period, providing the project turns out to be successful and beneficial for the site and the local people, it can also “radiate” to
other areas of Istanbul which share resembling characteristics to Fener- Balat. Tarlabasi, Sultanahmed and Zeyrek are also poor areas with a strong
social network and a remarkable historic built stock which is under decline. There the project will function in a similar way also adjusting to the spe-
cific special conditions of each site.

13. HOUSING COMPLEX AT PERAMA, ATHENS
(Thesis project, Dip. Arch)
The project concerns the development of an urban housing complex on a disused industrial site near a slum neighbourhood.
The area is today characterized by unregulated and arbitrary constructions and poor living quality, but transcends a unique
feeling of variety in facades, materials, colours and outdoor spaces. The main goal is to design a new urban environment
containing both private housing and public uses, incorporating the distinctive identity of the surrounding neighbourhood
and the industrial character of the wider area, so that it functions as an extension of the existing settlement and not as an
“intrusion” in an already established urban landscape.
Design_The system of dwellings is organized along a number of horizontal axes defining two types of movement-routes:
A. linear access routes for fast pedestrian movement, that serve as service roads as well (“hard” limit of housing rows);
B. fluid routes with an extrovert and social character that takes different shapes among the front gardens of the dwellings,
creating a chain of semi-public open spaces with a neighbourhood feeling (“soft” limit of housing rows).
A dual quality of urban environment is created providing two different definitions of urban outdoor space. Along the linear
route, the houses are “closed in” by tall walls with small openings giving a strict definition of private space. Along the fluid,
extrovert route the dwellings open up to the public or semi-public spaces in front of them, achieving a fusion of the private
and public space through large openings and low fences in their front gardens. Every block of residences functions as a
small-scale neighbourhood where every inhabitant can communicate and interact with both their neighbours and the
passers-by.

14. layers of intervention

15. landscape in proccess

16. Visuals and model of the proposal
walking through the housing blocks

18. typical block of houses_layout

19. housing typologies

21. STREETS OF WATER_streams within the urban space
Can the river network of a city become the springboard for a new approach to city’s architecture and
urban topography?
Choosing as a theme of the project the regeneration of the banks of one of the most ancient
streams of Patras -Milichos-, the design faced the challenge to answer the above question and
define the regeneration process so that it reflects the uniqueness of the natural landscape but also
respond to the needs of a contemporary city.
Streams are defined as dynamic, impetuous, and highly changeable over time natural elements.
Interpreting the given site as a transmuting landscape, our design team proposed the construction
of a linear park along the river-bed containing transient, changeable uses and flexible activities.
A flowing “labyrinth” of uses and events is composed: sites with periodical exhibitions, outdoor
markets, leisure activities, multi-use buildings, installations, playgrounds, open-air theatre and a
central square which changes its form and use accordingly to the volume and flow of the water of
the stream.
Another characteristic of Milichos is that it divides an urban area into two parts and the result of the
coexistence between the urban system and the stream is a number of passages the residences have
created in order to cross the stream. Using those passages as a starting point for the design of the
main pedestrian pathways we tried to integrate existing movement axes into the new environment
so that the identity of the site is directly tied to both the past and the every day life of the neighbor-
hood.

24. UN_FOLDING SPACES
library+archive building
A city library should act as a knowledge tank which is
constantly evolving. Trying to express through design the
flowing character of information and the constant interac-
tion between past and present knowledge and the means
for making it available to the public, the basic idea was
born: a continuous flexible element, unfolding like a ribbon
which creates fluid spaces and connects the buildings of Li-
brary (the contemporary documents and media resources)
and Archives (history and tradition).
A pliable ribbon undulates from side to side as it climbs
from the street level folding into floors to enfold/create
the library building, then folding into walls to create the
Archive building and finally folding into steps and small
platforms to create the exterior public space. Moreover the
ribbon penetrates the two buildings creating some of the
fixed interior elements.

26. PROFESSIONAL WORK
New Productive Landscape for Cronton Colliery_Competition_2012
Participation in the design of the competition “New Visitor Destination & Public
Open Space at Cronton Colliery” while working as an external architect at
Boyarsky Murphy Architects.
The proposal seeks to breathe new life into the former Colliery by establishing
a balance between preserving and enhancing the existing natural and ecologi-
cal processes of the site and the introduction of a new social and productive
landscape. The proposal can be self-sustaining financially, it also aims to be self-
sustaining socially through the establishment of allotments and an open market
area, the Mercato, that will encourage local economies and more active regular
pursuits for visitors and locals. Private stakeholders can invest in buildings that
can be operated commercially as offices, workshops or studios. There are also
facilities for a boutique hotel and restaurant.
ASPIS PROJECT: Auditing the Sustainability of Public Spaces_2009-10
link: http://www.aspis-learn.eu/intro.html
Worked on reviewing best practice of sustainable urban planning in Europe and conducting research to identify sustainability
criteria of urban open spaces. The project aims to stimulate dialogue between urban citizens and professional architects and planners, with a
focus on the sustainability of public open spaces. To achieve this aim, innovative IT tools and methods are used, including games-based
learning, web 2.0, podcasts, interactive forum, online discussion groups etc; at the same time networking among different “actors” in the city
is fostered. The project also aims to encourage critical thinking and the development of negotiation strategies through role playing and
interactive communication, preparing both citizens and professionals for active public participation in urban planning.