Now in her … more than sixty years of business, another series is being written regeneration of Falyrikos Ormos. OUR Region Attica, which has been granted land, is discussing with community organizations the possibility of including the remaining revival work in the “New European Bauhaus” as one of its flagship projects. On a positive note, the design will be updated to put more emphasis on sustainability and accessibility. The downside is that this likely implies a further delay in bidding and therefore the completion of the remaining projects, a possibility that angers the local community, which has been living with the effects of the projects’ slow progress over the past five years.

The revelation about the behind-the-scenes discussions that have taken place in recent months was recently made by the governor of Attica. George Patulis, after meeting with the head of the General Directorate for Regional Policy (DG Regio) Carsten Rasmussen. “Thanks to coordinated actions, vision and plan, we managed to secure full financing of the first and second phases of the project from European funds. Part of this major redevelopment is also the creation of a large, modern and ecological park that will provide unhindered access to the area’s coastline and its ecological modernization,” he said.

What Mr. Patulis meant was that it had been decided to join the current NSRF (2014-2020, accounting ends at the end of 2023) not only the continuation and completion of the project, but also the already implemented 1st phase of projects. Infrastructure projects that began construction in 2017 and are being completed (after numerous extensions and budget increases) during this period were funded from the resources of the Attica region. This means that most of the 110 million euros of the first phase of projects will return to the funds of the region, and the project will continue as a “bridge” in the new NFP (2021-2017).

The Attica region is discussing with public services the possibility of including the remaining projects in the “New European Bauhaus”.

“Now it is guaranteed that the project will be completed in full, not only the reconstruction works (stage 2 works) but also the port works (stage 3),” explains Alexandros Kalogeropoulos, head of the Technical Works Department of the Attica Region. “When discussing the inclusion of regeneration as a “major project” in the NSRF, the Commission suggested that we build it according to the “new European Bauhaus”. The initiative emphasizes three principles: sustainability, accessibility and democratic processes. Therefore, we are currently working on changes based on the original design by Renzo Piano in order to make the necessary additions to the tender documentation.”

Environmental studies

But how can we ensure that we are not led to another delay when, in the recent past, the Region justified months of inactivity with the need to update research? Mr. Kalogeropoulos is categorical: “Etudes on the ecological part will be handed over in February, the rest in the spring. We won’t really be making big changes, we just need to better justify our choice to show it’s compatible with the Bauhaus.”

If someone knows the Falirikos Ormos area well, it is the office of “Th. Papagiannis and Partners”. The office designed the Peace and Friendship Stadium in the late 70s. Before the Olympic Games, he was the head of the team that formulated (on behalf of the Athens Organization) the master plan for turning Faliriko Ormos into an Olympic pole, and in 2011-2013 he again led the team that undertook to specialize the design of Renzo Piano for the area.Today, he committed to support the region of Attica in his cooperation with the technical levels (Jaspers).The Managing Director of the office is architect-urban planner Ivi Nanopoulou “We are not starting from scratch and preparing new studies. The project is already compatible with the principles of the Bauhaus in many ways. We are currently considering how to enrich the design with new uses (paying more attention to culture, caring for environment and active participation of society) and new technologies (e.g. energy upgrades of all Olympic buildings ny, the use of digital technologies). And how the social component will be integrated into the design,” he explains. “These changes do not affect the nature of the design choices and do not delay the project. According to my estimates, making these changes to the tender documentation will take 3-4 months.” Ms. Nanopulu notes that it is especially important that the entire remaining project will be auctioned off, including works in the port, including berths in the sea, islets and the reconstruction of the beach. “I think this is good news,” he concludes.

“We live 5 years in the dust”

The local community expresses its rejection of anything that could further delay the revival of Faliriko Ormos. According to the mayors of Moschatos and Kalithea, coastal areas have been suffering from the dust of the construction site for five years now, with no horizon in sight for the completion of the project. “Over the next few days, we will hold a joint municipal council with the municipality of Moschato,” says Dimitris Karnavos, mayor of Kallithea. “There is only one request from the local community: how to speed up the auction of the second phase of the project so that it can be completed. We are asking for detailed timetables from the region, but we have not received them yet.” “We are outraged. We have been living in dust for five years. We demand that the second phase be put up for auction immediately,” adds Andreas Efthymiou, Mayor of Moscato. “The first phase was to be completed in 2019. promises us every year that he will put the rest of the project up for auction, and still nothing. The first stage has not been completed yet.” Mr. Efthymiou asks to include the Ilissos flood control project in the new tender. did not enter the first phase of the projects.” The project concerns the expansion of the mouth of Ilisos, the removal of the bridge, and the deepening of its channel to a length of 300 meters from the sea.

From a 1965 design to an aquarium and a cruise port.

Sixty years have passed since the request for the revival of Falirikos Ormos. A common feature of all the competitions held over the years was that … they were never successful. In fact, the area was “saved” from becoming a port that would have changed its character forever just ten years ago.

The first competition for the town planning organization of Falirikos Ormos was held in 1965, and it was promptly launched by the EOT. The goal was to organize the tourist exploitation of the Faleri front, as well as to solve its serious environmental problems, mainly pollution of the coast by industrial and municipal sewage. In fact, the plan also included the construction of two hotels near the sea, which were never realized.

What was built to highlight the Athenian embankment was a new, elevated waterfront alley. Since then, Poseidon Avenue has served as a “barrier” between the surrounding residential areas and the coast, while causing acute flooding problems, especially in Tsitsifes, as the water was “locked up”. During the dictatorship, extensive embankments followed, projects that began in 1968 and were completed in 1972 with the construction of the artificial channel of Kifissos.

Informal dump

In 1981-1985, when the Peace and Friendship Stadium was built, the state of the coastline was already poor due to the “discharge” of sewage by Kifissos and Ilissos and the site being turned into an “unofficial” landfill. The situation remained unchanged until the mid-90s, when the area was included in Olympic planning. In 2002, the project was finalized according to a special plan (ESOAP), but due to lack of time, the project was divided into two stages: the construction of grounds for beach volleyball, handball and taekwondo and … were never implemented. In fact, a year before the Games, the construction of a 17,000 sqm aquarium was approved (since 3105/2003). and five 300 m2 restaurants, which were also never built.

After the Olympic Games, a plan to create an ecological park in the bay is being promoted, which remained on paper. The area is also changing hands, from Olympic Properties SA to ETA, to Coastal Front SA and then back to ETAD. The driving force is the construction of the Cultural Center by the Niarchos Foundation – in fact, with the intervention of the foundation, the plan to turn Falirikos-Ormos into a cruise port is “blocked”. Renzo Piano takes over the redevelopment of the bay, which becomes specialized and leads to the issuance of a presidential decree in 2013. However, the case remained dead until 2016, when the territory is transferred to the use of the Attica region, which undertakes to begin reconstruction at the expense of its own resources of tenders for the first stage of projects.