In urban environments, tensions emerge between institutional approaches to spatial design and spontaneous communities that strive for greater autonomy and inclusive forms of action. Within a formal context, the architect’s role is clearly defined and associated with specific responsibilities, whereas in self-organized spaces, this role is less clearly delineated. This thesis investigates the functioning of such spaces in Athens and examines their practices, dynamics, and mechanisms of operation.
The first, theoretical part of the thesis highlights the importance of studying self-managed spaces, exploring urban tendencies, questions concerning the nature of urban living, and the relationship between the development of the city and the development of self-organization. These spaces are founded on horizontal management and operate outside formal systems, and therefore the architect’s role is addressed through examples of practices that involve it in a detached manner. In the second, analytical part, the overall scale of occupations is initially examined through spatial analyses, which then transition into the analysis of individual cases conducted through field research. Based on the collected data, a proposal for a self-organized space is developed, systematically summarizing the findings of previous analyses while simultaneously revealing the architect’s role.
The aim of the thesis is to address the established role of the architect in society and to determine what shift in its perception is necessary in the context of self-organized spaces, while also demonstrating that the architect can still operate constructively within these spaces, even without relying on standardized practices.
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