Could This Solar-Paneled Mobile Home Save Greece?
This project won the 2013 Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award in the Architecture + Economic Crisis category. See the full list of winners here.
That the name @kinito resembles a Twitter handle is not a coincidence. Architect Esri Krouska wanted his project to adapt to each individual “user,” much like a Twitter account, and his peripatetic house invokes the inherent mobility of the quippy social media outlet. Yet despite the playfulness of its name, @kinito responds to a very serious problem. When the economic crisis in Greece reached its peak in late 2011, Krouska sought to imagine creative ways to survive the harsh austerity measures plaguing his country. The result was @kinito, “an autonomous movable house unit that you take with you depending on the needs and the season of the year,” explained Krouska. More after the jump.
When Krouska designed @kinito in 2011, he was directly responding to the realities of a country in serious financial turmoil. He saw real estate taxes spiking and mounting electricity taxes resulting in powerless homes. “As things were getting worse, I started imagining Athens full of abandoned and dark buildings,” Krouska elaborated. He conceived of @kinito as a way to quite literally escape the pervasive problems of recession-hit Greece. He imagined “new sustainable settlements” with “excellent passive insulation and … renewable energy sources” atop the city’s abandoned buildings. Immense solar panels would generate energy from Greece’s sunshine, and when the seasons change, the @kinito unit can be transplanted to the Grecian countryside.
Cipher City, architectural workshop
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Riethüsli Primary School / MPP ArchitektenLocated on top of a plateau, which is abruptly ended by a sloped edge, the strong topographical element of the Riethüsli Primary School leads to a severe breaking point between the site and its surrounding context. Designed by MPP Architekten, the aim of the concept is to let the school act as an urban communicator. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Καλλιεργούμε φυτά σε μπαλκόνια και ταράτσες
Φυτώρια και καταστήματα αγροτικών εφοδίων, σύμφωνα με δημοσίευμα της "Καθημερινής της Κυριακής", καταγράφουν το τελευταίο διάστημα ένα νέο κύμα ενδιαφέροντος για καλλιέργειες κηπευτικών και αρωματικών φυτών στο σπίτι, στη βεράντα, σε παρτέρια και γλάστρες, που συναγωνίζεται αυτό των καλλωπιστικών φυτών και φαίνεται να συνδέεται άμεσα με τη μείωση του οικογενειακού εισοδήματος. Ιδιοκτήτες καταστημάτων στην οδό Φράγκων της Θεσσαλονίκης, όπου πωλούνται ρίζες κηπευτικών, οπωροφόρων, βολβών και σπόρων εκτιμούν ότι η κίνηση σε σύγκριση με πέρυσι είναι αυξημένη 30-35%, χωρίς μάλιστα να έχει κορυφωθεί η περίοδος ζήτησης που υπολογίζεται πριν από το Πάσχα. |