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COMMISSION Markus Appenzeller Martha Seitanidou Robert Younger KASPER LEMMINGA Academy of Architecture Amsterdam Master Urbanism 2025-2026

THE OLYMPIC GAME

CONTENT

Introduction

Olympic Story

2004 Athens Olympic Summer Games

Olympic venues

II.

Athens

Athens’ climate problems

Archanes’ financial situation

Aftermath of the Olympic Games

Hardian’s aqueduct

III.

Olympic village

Design of the Olympic village

Photo analysis

Community energy

Analysis conclusion

IV.

Scenario’s

I. Sports utopia

II. Olympic Wilderness

III. Common Ground

100

IV. Olympic Farm

104

V. Olympic Arrival

108

The Olympic Game

114

The Olympic Game

119

Rule based design

120

Introducing the players

123

The field of play

124

The rules

128

Playing the game

136

Process of leasing

140

Simulating

148

Spatial reality

156

VI.

176

References

Introduction For as long as I can remember, volleyball has been a constant in my life. When you grow up playing a sport with that kind of dedication, the Olympic Games naturally represent the absolute pinnacle of achievement. It is a two-week spectacle where the world’s greatest athletes gather, surrounded by an atmosphere of unity, competition, and peak performance. For a long time, I viewed the Olympics purely through that lens: as a fan and an athlete, captivated by the magic of the event itself.

However,

studies

fundamentally

shifted

that

urban

design I

rigid, top-down infrastructure have left the

started looking beyond the two weeks of global

current residents struggling to appropriate their

broadcasting

the

own neighborhood. The space was built for a

immense spatial machinery required to host

global spectacle, not for a local community.

and

began

perspective.

logistical roads, vast empty parking lots, and

questioning

such an event. Every two to four years, host cities construct massive Olympic villages, colossal

The Olympic Game is a direct response to this

stadiums,

ongoing spatial crisis. Rather than proposing

and

sprawling

accommodate

extreme

another static, top-down masterplan, which

influx of people. But what happens when

is exactly the approach that failed in the first

the

athletes

place, this project approaches urban design

fly home, and the cameras are turned off?

as a dynamic, rule-based system. By radically

closing

infrastructure

temporary,

ceremony

ends,

the

reducing the public infrastructure to its bare The reality is that these host cities are left with

essentials, a massive ‘Field of Play’ is unlocked and

a spatial footprint that is rarely designed for

handed back to the residents. Through a carefully

everyday,

‘afterlife’

designed framework of rules and incentives,

of the Olympic Games is an urban planning

the project empowers the community to claim,

challenge

program, and transform the leftover voids.

long-term that

civic

life.

demands

The much

critical thought than it traditionally receives. This book documents that process. It explores This realization forms the starting point of my

how we can shift from designing rigid urban

graduation project. To understand the true

monuments to facilitating adaptable, bottom-up

impact of an Olympic legacy, I focused on the

growth. It is a search for a new kind of urbanism,

2004 Summer Games in Athens, specifically

one that ensures that the legacy of the Olympic

the Olympic Village in Acharnes. Originally

Games doesn’t end when the athletes leave, but

designed to house 16,000 athletes, it was later

truly begins when the residents take over.

converted into social housing. Yet, the spatial reality of the village remained stuck in its temporary,

megalomanic

origins.

Oversized

01 9

I. Olympic Story

1896 First modern Olympic Games

1.01 OLYMPIC STORY

A centenary dream delayed

The story of the Athens Olympic Village is rooted

heavily on the romantic and cultural significance

in a deep sense of national pride and a century-

of the city. The general expectation was that the

old legacy. In 1896, the Greek capital proudly

International Olympic Committee (IOC) would

hosted the first modern Olympic Games. It was a

inevitably honor the birthplace of the Games.

monumental event that successfully reconnected the city with its ancient roots. For decades, the Greeks held onto this legacy. Naturally, when the 100-year anniversary of the modern Olympics approached, the country had one goal: bringing the Games back home to Athens in 1996. The Greek bid for the centennial Games was highly emotional. For the people of Athens, hosting the 1996 Olympics was not just another sporting event; it felt like a historical birthright. They put everything into their campaign, relying

Atlanta hosts the 1996 Olympic Games

But the reality of modern mega-events proved

undeniable that if Athens ever wanted to host

to be a harsh wake-up call. To the absolute

the Games again, the city needed a radical, large-

shock of the Greek nation, the IOC rejected

scale upgrade. This bruised pride sparked the

their bid, awarding the 1996 Games to Atlanta

unprecedented wave of ambition and urban

instead. The reason was painfully clear: nostalgia

construction

alone was not enough. Athens simply did not

them the 2004 Olympics and ultimately lay the

meet the strict, modern requirements. The city

groundwork for the Olympic Village.

that

would

eventually

secure

was struggling with severe traffic congestion, outdated infrastructure, and a lack of modern sports facilities. They were relying on the past, while the Olympics demanded the future. This rejection was a massive blow to the Greek pride, but it also became a crucial turning point. The ‘Atlanta shock’ lit a fire under the national government

and

city

planners.

became

I. Olympic Story

Opening ceremony 2004 Athens Olympic Summer Games

1.02 2004 ATHENS OLYMPIC SUMMER GAMES How the Games returned home

Driven by the sting of the 1996 rejection, Greece

Yet,

launched into an building frenzy. In 2004,

masterpiece. The 2004 Olympics were universally

the Olympic Games finally returned to their

praised as a spectacular success. The freshly

birthplace. But the road to the opening ceremony

poured concrete held, the extensive security

was nerve-wracking. In the months leading up to

measures

the event, international media heavily doubted if

transformed into a vibrant, global celebration. For

Athens could actually pull it off. Mega-stadiums

two weeks, Greece proved it could host a flawless

and vital infrastructure faced severe delays,

modern mega-event while honoring its ancient

with construction crews working around the

heritage. It was a moment of absolute national

clock right up to the final minute. Adding to the

triumph and pride, a euphoric peak of collective

immense pressure, these were the first Summer

energy before the long-term reality of these

Games after 9/11, making security a massive and

brand-new mega-structures would eventually set

costly concern.

in.

against

all

worked

odds,

Athens

flawlessly,

delivered

and

the

city

I. Olympic Story

Construction of the venues and housing

To prove to the IOC and the world that they

This megalomanic approach is most visible in the

were capable, Greece didn’t just build; they

construction of the Olympic Village. Built entirely

overcompensated. The construction sites were

from scratch on the outskirts of the city, it was

of a scale Athens had rarely seen before. Entire

designed as an isolated fortress to temporarily

landscapes were flattened and paved to make way

house 16,000 athletes. To accommodate the

for state-of-the-art sports complexes and massive

massive influx of touring buses, security forces,

infrastructure networks. It was no longer just about

and global media, the urban layout was pushed to

meeting the strict Olympic regulations; it was

extremes. Streets were built as wide as highways,

about making a grand, architectural statement.

and vast empty areas were paved purely for

The venues were monumental, designed to look

logistics and parking. It was an impressive feat

impressive on international television and to

of rapid engineering for a two-week event, but it

handle the logistical nightmare of a global event.

completely ignored the human scale needed for

But this immense ambition came with a heavy

a functioning, everyday neighborhood once the

physical footprint.

athletes went home.

I. Olympic Story

1.03 OLYMPIC VENUES

A scattered legacy across the urban fabric

The ambition of the 2004 Olympics was not confined to a single district; it reshaped the entire metropolitan map of Athens. To host a diverse array of international sports, the city required a vast and highly specialized infrastructure. The strategy was to decentralize the events, spreading the massive investments across various parts of the city and its surrounding regions. From the coastal zones in the south to the mountainous outskirts in the north, new venues were forcefully injected into the existing urban fabric. This widespread development was intended to serve as a catalyst for overall urban regeneration. The idea was that these new, highly developed nodes would stimulate local economies, upgrade regional infrastructure, and leave a lasting, positive footprint on the entire city. However, this strategy also meant that the immense financial burden and the subsequent maintenance challenges were not localized, but scattered across the entire map of Athens, creating a network of highly demanding mega-structures.

I. Olympic Story

The visual reality of these scattered venues reveals a striking architectural theme: massive, monofunctional design. The structures built for the 2004 Games were engineering marvels, perfectly

tailored

host

specific

events,

accommodate tens of thousands of spectators, and facilitate global broadcasting. From sweeping aerodynamic roofs to vast concrete plazas, the architecture was designed to inspire awe on television. Yet, they were inherently rigid. A venue designed explicitly for Olympic-level weightlifting or specialized aquatic events offers very little flexibility for everyday, community-driven use.

This lack of adaptability proved to be the critical flaw in the post-Olympic era. Because these buildings were so highly specialized and incredibly expensive to maintain, many of them became obsolete the moment the closing ceremony ended. Instead of functioning as the beating hearts of new, vibrant neighborhoods, these monumental structures slowly transformed into isolated, concrete islands. They stand today as scattered reminders of a glorious two-week event, struggling to find a meaningful purpose in the daily life of the city.

Hoofdstuk etc hier

02 21

II. Athens

2.01 GROWTH OF ATHENS

From a compact capital to rural edge

To understand the current state of Athens and the Olympic Village, we must first look at how the city evolved. In the mid-19th century, Athens was a compact capital, deeply intertwined with its ancient topography. As seen on the 1850 map, the urban footprint was strictly contained within the central basin. Even by 1923, as the city began to modernize, its expansion was modest and relatively controlled. What is most striking on these historical maps is the location of the future 2004 Olympic Village. Positioned far to the north, at the foothills of Mount Parnitha, this area was nothing more than quiet rural land. It was completely disconnected from the urban core. This historical distance is crucial: it shows that the Olympic Village was never meant to be a natural extension of the city. It was eventually planted on the absolute periphery, an area that for decades served as a natural, untouched buffer for the Athenian basin.

Athens around 1850

Athens around 1923

II. Athens

1984

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Pre-game infrastructure

Uncontrolled sprawl Fast forward to the late 20th century, and the map of Athens tells a radically different story. The city experienced an era of explosive, uncontrolled urban sprawl. Without strict centralized planning, the concrete footprint aggressively expanded outward, eating into the surrounding valleys and mountain slopes. As the satellite sequence from 1984 to 2020 illustrates, this growth was relentless. The rural periphery was quickly swallowed by a sea of informal development, turning Athens into a dense metropolis battling severe congestion, heat, and a lack of green breathing space. Improved infrastructure When the 2004 Olympics were awarded, the city faced a massive logistical challenge: how to connect this chaotic, sprawling mass for a global event. The preparation for the Games triggered a historic wave of infrastructure investments. Massive new highways were carved through the landscape, metro lines were extended, and a new tram network was introduced. While this heavy engineering temporarily modernized the city’s

Post-game infrastructure

transit, it also created hard, physical barriers. The Olympic Village suddenly found itself locked in a web of heavy, car-centric infrastructure, physically isolating it from the rest of the urban fabric.

II. Athens

2.02 ATHENS’ CLIMATE PROBLEMS A concrete basin trapping the heat

The extreme heat in Athens is not just a result of

When compared to other Southern European

global climate change; it is heavily amplified by

capitals like Madrid, Rome, or Lisbon, the amount

the city’s unique topography and urban planning.

of green space per capita in Athens is alarmingly

Athens is geographically shaped like a basin,

low, leaving the city without natural shade or

surrounded by large mountain ranges. While this

evaporative cooling.

historically provided natural protection, it now acts as a dangerous heat trap. The mountains block

The consequences of this concrete expansion are

cross-ventilation, causing the dense, concrete

clearly visible in recent climate data. The city is

urban valley to heat up rapidly during the day and

experiencing increasingly intense and prolonged

hold onto that heat long into the night.

heatwaves, such as the grueling 15-day ‘Cleon’ heatwave in 2023. The soaring temperatures

As the city sprawled outward, it systematically

shown in the charts represent more than just

destroyed its natural cooling mechanisms. The

discomfort; they have become a critical public

yellow lines on the map trace the historic rivers

health crisis. If the Olympic Village and Athens as

and waterways that once flowed through Athens.

a whole, wants to remain livable, future strategies

Today, almost all of them have been paved over

like The Olympic Game must prioritize unpaving

and forced underground to make way for roads

the ground and restoring this lost ecological

and concrete. Furthermore, Athens suffers from

balance.

a severe lack of publicly accessible green space.

Temperatures during heatwave Cleon 2023

Temperatures during summer 2021

Comparison of publicly accessible greenspace (m2) in southern European cities

II. Athens

2.03 ARCHANES’ FINANCIAL SITUATION The story of how to Olympic came to be

Archanes

Central Athens

Kiffisia

working-class/high debt

economic center

high-class suburb

Population:

108.000

638.000

73.000

Total budget:

143 million

1,02 billion

110 million

Infrastucture/ new works budget:

15 million

180 million

30 million

The crisis

The budget

The euphoric high of the 2004 Olympics was

Despite having to manage this massive territory,

short-lived. Soon after the closing ceremony, a

Archanes operates on a fraction of the budget.

severe economic crisis hit Greece, bringing the

The data is striking: their budget for infrastructure

country to a standstill. The massive, debt-fueled

and new works is painfully low compared to

investments required to host the Games quickly

neighboring areas. This harsh financial reality

backfired. Because the venues were designed for

makes one thing undeniable: a municipality

global spectacle rather than local utility, there was

like Archanes simply does not have the funds to

no realistic post-game plan. Greece was suddenly

centrally manage and maintain a megalomanic,

left with a collection of expensive mega-structures

top-down project like the Olympic Village.

and absolutely no national budget to keep them running. Archanes When we zoom in on the local level, the situation becomes even more problematic. The Olympic Village was built in Archanes, a working-class municipality on the northern edge of the city. While its built-up urban core is comparable in size to wealthy suburbs like Kiffisia, Archanes is also responsible for maintaining a vast, sprawling rural area.

2.04 AFTERMATH OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES The story of how to Olympic came to be

The combination of megalomanic architecture,

The Olympic Village suffered the exact same fate.

a crippling financial crisis, and an unforgiving

Handed over to a local government that lacked

climate proved disastrous. Without a solid strategy

the resources to maintain it, the area began to

or budget for the future, the Olympic venues

decay. The overly wide roads, the massive parking

quickly fell into disrepair. Many of the stadiums

lots, and the grand public spaces became barren

were built for niche, highly specific sports that

and unmanageable. What was once a symbol of

had no everyday value to the Greek public.

global pride turned into an isolated, neglected

Left empty and exposed to the harsh Athenian

neighborhood. It became painfully clear that

sun, these concrete monuments transformed

traditional planning had failed here, and that

into modern ruins within a matter of years.

saving the village would require a radically different set of rules.

II. Athens

2.05 HARDIAN’S AQUEDUCT A hidden lifeline beneath the city

Long before the modern sprawl and the massive concrete networks of the 2004 Olympics, Athens relied on a masterpiece of ancient engineering. The Hadrian’s Aqueduct, constructed in the 2nd century AD, stretches over 20 kilometers from the mountains of Parnitha straight into the heart of the city. Remarkably, this Roman structure didn’t just become an ancient ruin; it remained the primary water supply for the entire city of Athens all the way until the 1930s. It is a historic lifeline that literally runs right beneath the Olympic Village. Today, however, the aqueduct is largely forgotten. Stripped of its original function, it sits dormant underground. Above ground, as the photos on the following pages illustrate, its presence is only marked by neglected maintenance shafts, subtle shifts in the landscape, and random patches of wasteland. During the hasty construction of the Olympic Village, this extraordinary piece of cultural heritage was essentially paved over and ignored, treated by planners as an underground obstacle rather than an urban asset. Initiative But the story of the aqueduct is far from over. Recognizing its immense potential, the Athens water authority (EYDAP) and local municipalities have recently launched initiatives to reactivate the ancient tunnel. While it will no longer provide drinking water, the goal is to utilize the continuous flow of underground water to naturally irrigate public parks and green spaces along its route. Suddenly, this ancient infrastructure offers a ready-made, ecological solution to combat the city’s modern heat and drought crises.

Path of Hardian’s Aqueduct

II. Athens

Hoofdstuk etc hier

03 35

III. Olympic village

3.01 LOCATION OF THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE Disconnected from the urban core

Situated at the northern edge of the Athenian basin, the Olympic Village lies approximately 15 kilometers as the crow flies from the city center. This sheer distance makes it an inherently isolated location. Without a robust, high-frequency public transit network connecting it directly to the heart of Athens, the village has essentially become an island. It is a neighborhood almost entirely dependent on the car, making daily commutes a challenge and severely limiting its accessibility and integration for anyone without a personal vehicle.

III. Olympic village

Satallite image pre Olympic Games

blank

canvas

the

periphery

Before the Olympic preparations began, the site at the foot of Mount Parnitha was largely undeveloped rural land. As the city of Athens steadily sprawled outward, this specific area remained a quiet buffer zone. It was a blank canvas, which made it the perfect, frictionless location for planners to drop a massive, temporary mega-project without having to negotiate with existing urban structures or local communities.

Satallite image post Olympic Games

rigid

anomaly

the

sprawl

Looking at the area today, the Olympic Village stands out as a stark, rigid anomaly. While the surrounding landscape has been entirely swallowed by organic, uncontrollable urban sprawl, the village remains a strictly bordered, topdown grid. It doesn’t blend into its surroundings; it clashes with them, sitting like a concrete fortress surrounded by a sea of informal development.

III. Olympic village

THRAKOMAKEDONES

MOUNT PARNITHA

OLYMPIC VILLAGE

124 ha.

1,6km

HELLEN

600m

ROUTE TO CENT UNCONTROLLABLE SPRAWL

INDUSTRIAL SPRAWL

A C40 HARNES

Trapped

between

hard

borders

Zooming in on the immediate surroundings, it becomes clear how physically trapped the Olympic

HADRIAN AQUEDUCT

NIC AIRFORCE ACADEMY

Village truly is. Measuring roughly 1.8 kilometers long and 600 meters wide (124 hectares), the site is brutally squeezed between two absolute borders. On the west, it is cut off by a heavy, highway-like access road. On the east, it is completely blocked by the fenced-off runway of the Hellenic Air Force Academy. These barriers prevent any natural expansion or pedestrian connection, locking the village in a spatial chokehold. A

clash

two

municipalities

This isolation is further emphasized by the stark contrast between the surrounding municipalities. To the southeast lies Kifisia, an affluent suburb characterized by a planned, structured urban fabric. To the west lies Acharnes. While Acharnes has a historic organic core, the area directly bordering the village consists almost entirely of uncontrollable sprawl and fragmented industrial zones. The Olympic Village sits exactly on the fault line of these two wildly different worlds, yet it fails to connect to either of them.

TRE | 15KM

KIFISIA

III. Olympic village

3.02 DESIGN OF THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE A catalyst on the periphery

When the location for the Olympic Village was selected, the planners did not just see a blank canvas; they envisioned a powerful urban catalyst. The strategy was to use the immense investment required for the Games to develop a new “peri-urban hub” in the northern part of the metropolitan area. By placing the village here, the goal was to stimulate urban regeneration,

upgrade

the

surrounding

infrastructure, and eventually create a vibrant satellite city that would serve the wider region. The

site

itself

offered

significant

strategic

advantages during the Games. Positioned at the foothills of the mountains, it provided the athletes with a natural, relatively quiet setting and a scenic view over the bustling Athenian basin.

Furthermore,

the

newly

constructed

highways ensured that this peripheral location was highly accessible, providing fast and direct connections to the major Olympic venues and sports complexes scattered across the city.

Proposed satallite-city structure

III. Olympic village

Map of the Olympic Village during the Olympic Games

An ‘Athletes First’ Utopia The design of the Olympic Village was driven by

Architecturally, the village aimed for variety and

an uncompromising ‘Athletes First’ philosophy.

sustainability. To avoid a monolithic appearance

The goal was to create a temporary, high-end

and to accommodate the specific needs of the

sanctuary that offered every conceivable luxury

Paralympics, 14 different housing typologies were

and function required for peak performance.

designed. These structures were built with the

The masterplan envisioned a “model residential

intention of being converted into public housing

neighborhood”, a highly structured, green, and

after the Games. The designs incorporated

bioclimatic suburb that stood in stark contrast

bioclimatic principles, utilizing passive solar

to the dense, organic sprawl of Athens. It was

design, natural ventilation, and insulation to

designed to be a fully functional community,

reduce temperatures, an ambitious attempt to

complete with integrated amenities, dedicated

create an ecologically responsible enclave in a

meeting points, and a central public square meant

challenging climate.

to stimulate social interaction among the athletes. On an urban design scale, the layout was defined by a strict geometric grid, divided into distinct functional zones, and centered around a prominent green axis. The infrastructure was deliberately oversized, engineered to handle the massive logistical load of thousands of athletes, security personnel, and global media arriving and departing simultaneously. While pedestrian-friendly zones were incorporated within the residential clusters, the overarching framework was dictated by the need for extreme efficiency and security.

PRINCIPLES

GRID

ZONES

AXIS

BOUNDARIES 45

III. Olympic village

3.03 PHOTO ANALYSIS: HOUSING Expectations versus reality

Before visiting the Olympic Village, the stories I

pathways. You can clearly see the high standards

read painted a bleak picture of total abandonment

of the 2004 masterplan still reflected in the

and decay. I expected to find a dilapidated ghost

architecture today.

town. However, walking through the residential streets, the reality on the ground was surprisingly different. The housing blocks are actually in a much better state than the media suggests. Originally built to accommodate the world’s top athletes, these structures were designed with a surprising level of quality in mind. Because the village also had to host the Paralympic Games, the entire residential grid is highly accessible, featuring integrated ramps and wide, barrier-free

Living streets are clearly organized and clean!

Most of the housing is accessible for disabled people as it was the paralympic village as well!

III. Olympic village

Some blocks are maintained poorly and show this

Private gardens and balcony’s are kept nice and used often

Underground parking for all houses

Looking closely at the housing, several architectural

homes outward with awnings, rugs, and seating

features immediately stand out. First is the sheer

areas. The private, ground-floor gardens are

level of hidden luxury: every single house has

generally lush, heavily used, and well-maintained.

its own underground parking space, which is incredibly rare for a neighborhood in Athens.

Although there are a few isolated blocks that show signs of poor maintenance and neglect,

While the architecture itself has a strong,

the overarching impression is very positive. The

almost rigid uniformity, you can clearly see the

private residential domains are deeply cared for

residents claiming their space. The Greek culture

by a community that takes pride in their homes,

of outdoor living is very visible here. People

creating a sharp contrast with the neglected

truly ‘live’ on their balconies, extending their

public spaces around them.

III. Olympic village

3.04 PHOTO ANALYSIS: INFRASTRUCTURE Engineered for the Games, not for the residents

Before visiting the site, I hadn’t formed a strong

massive logistical peak of the Olympic Games,

opinion on the local infrastructure. However,

to quickly funnel thousands of athlete buses

the moment I arrived, the spatial disproportion

and security convoys in and out. Today, this vast

was impossible to ignore. The main access road

amount of asphalt serves no purpose other than

bordering the village doesn’t feel like an urban

creating distance between neighbors.

street; it looks and acts like a major highway. But the real shock comes when you enter the residential grid itself. The internal streets are designed on a completely megalomanic scale. They are so excessively wide that you could easily park four cars next to each other and still have plenty of room to drive past. It becomes painfully obvious

that

this

infrastructure

was

never

designed for the everyday life of a neighborhood. It was engineered purely to handle the temporary,

This highway is framing the village, with little save crossings

III. Olympic village

These streets are unnecessarily wide!!

They invite speeding, drifting. All markings are gone!

III. Olympic village

This parking area is only used for shady encounters

The

over-dimensioned

infrastructure

has

streets are still cluttered with on-street parking.

created several immediate problems for the livability of the village. The extremely wide,

Most remarkably, the village is scarred by

straight

road

enormous, completely unused parking lots.

dangerous

These vast paved areas, once vital for the Olympic

streets,

markings, behavior

often

missing

unintentionally like

speeding,

invite street

their racing,

and

logistics, now sit entirely abandoned. They

drifting. The asphalt dominates the public realm.

represent a massive amount of “lost space”, a sea of concrete that contributes heavily to the local

Furthermore, the spatial logic is highly

heat island effect, but also offers an incredible,

contradictory. Despite the fact that

blank canvas for future, bottom-up interventions.

every single housing unit has its own dedicated underground parking noted

space earlier),

(as

the

III. Olympic village

3.05 PHOTO ANALYSIS: GREEN STRUCTURE An oasis without a purpose

Coming from the dense, concrete heat of central Athens, entering the Olympic Village feels like stepping into a green oasis. The sheer volume of unpaved land is striking. The masterplan clearly prioritized open space, particularly along the grand central axis that runs through the heart of the village. From a distance, or on a satellite map, this looks like a massive ecological asset. However, as soon as you step off the pavement and try to actually use these spaces, the illusion quickly fades. The area is undeniably green, but it is entirely devoid of life.

I walk my dog here, but not much else

Zero maintainance made this looking rejected

III. Olympic village

Greenspaces between builings are lush and nice!

The fundamental problem with the green

amenities

structure in the Olympic Village is a complete lack

chessboard or seating areas, are vandalized or

of programming and maintenance. While there

swallowed by weeds. The green spaces between

are large, potentially beautiful areas, especially

the housing blocks are slightly better maintained

along the central axis, they are completely

by the residents themselves, but the overarching

neglected. The landscaping has run wild, turning

public realm offers no diversity in function. It is a

intended

massive area filled with raw potential, currently

parks

into

overgrown

wastelands.

that

exist,

the

outdoor

entirely wasted by a lack of care and municipal There is a distinct lack of “active” green

vision.

space. Aside from walking a dog, there is very little reason for residents to linger here. The public

III. Olympic village

3.06 PHOTO ANALYSIS: SPORTS FACILITIES A surprising revival

When researching the post-Olympic legacy

brought a genuine sense of hope. It proves that

of Athens, the image of the ruined, muddy

the Olympic spirit here isn’t entirely lost, it just

swimming

needed a second chance and a bit of care.

pool

the

Olympic

Village

perhaps the most infamous symbol of decay. I arrived expecting to find a graveyard of athletic infrastructure. Instead, I was met with one of the most uplifting surprises of my fieldwork. The sports facilities are not dead; they are very much alive. To my absolute surprise, the iconic swimming pool has been recently cleaned, refilled, and reopened to the public. Seeing residents actively swimming in the once-abandoned pool, and people running laps on the athletics track,

What an improvement from a couple years back!

Hoofdstuk etc hier

While the revival of these athletic facilities is

massive

positive

for

the

analyzing

their

layout

reveals

flaw

the

original

2004

separate

“sports

zone”

the

periphery.

community, a

structural

Furthermore, the accessibility of these spaces is

masterplan.

somewhat fragmented. While some courts are completely open and free for public use, others

The sports amenities, ranging from the tennis

have been fenced off and are operated on a rental

and basketball courts to the swimming pool,

basis. It is fantastic to see these venues functioning

are highly clustered at the extreme northern

and bringing energy back to the neighborhood,

edge of the village. Rather than being integrated

but their peripheral location prevents them from

into the daily life and the central green axis

truly acting as the social, beating heart of the

of the residential grid, they form an isolated,

village.

III. Olympic village

3.07 PHOTO ANALYSIS: BUSINESS ZONE The ghost town at the front door

Of all the areas in the Olympic Village, the “Business

stands completely abandoned. It has been

Zone” was by far the most shocking to witness in

stripped bare, heavily vandalized, and left to rot.

person. This district was originally built to house the offices of the Olympic Committee during

What makes this situation truly surreal and

the 2004 Games. The post-game plan sounded

incredibly damaging to the neighborhood, is that

solid on paper: a major government agency was

this apocalyptic ghost town sits directly at the

scheduled to relocate their headquarters here,

main entrance of the Olympic Village. It is the very

ensuring a steady flow of jobs and daily activity.

first thing residents and visitors see when they arrive.

However, the reality of the location ruined the plan. The employees simply refused to relocate to an office that was so far removed from the city center and so difficult to reach by public transport. As a result, the agency never moved in. Today, this massive, multi-story office complex

What is this entrance to the Olympic Village?!

What is this barren wasteland?!

III. Olympic village

The failure of the Business Zone extends beyond

The impact of this failed zone on the rest of

just the abandoned office buildings. Adjacent to

the village is profound. Instead of a bustling,

the ruins lies a vast, barren wasteland of gravel

welcoming entrance, a vibrant “Home Coming”,

and weeds. This empty plot was the site of

the village is framed by neglect. The immense

another broken promise: a large shopping mall

amount of unused space and the visual decay of

and commercial center was supposed to be built

the entrance area drag down the atmosphere of

here to serve the thousands of new residents.

the entire neighborhood, constantly reminding

Due to political stalling and a lack

the residents of the top-down plans that were

of financial investment after the

promised but never delivered.

economic crisis hit, construction never

even

began.

III. Olympic village

3.08 PHOTO ANALYSIS: AQUEDUCT A staged monument

Finding

2,000-year-old

Roman

aqueduct

sterile, highly dramatized “riverbed” of hardscape

slicing directly through a modern neighborhood

that is completely devoid of actual water. It feels

is incredibly rare, and I was genuinely excited to

less like an integration of history and more like a

see how the 2004 masterplan had integrated this

rigid, concrete display case that misses the point

cultural heritage. Initially, it seems impressive that

of what an aqueduct fundamentally is: a carrier

they chose to highlight it. However, the execution

of life.

is deeply flawed and feels entirely artificial. Where the ancient stone channel comes above ground, the planners surrounded it with a massive, over-designed basin of concrete and paving. Instead of letting the aqueduct sit naturally within a green landscape, they created a

Why all this concrete surrounding the Aqueduct? possibility to bring back water?

III. Olympic village

Vandalised and used as trash cans

Once underground, you don’t experience the Aqueduct at all...

The frustration with the aqueduct’s design peaks

depressing. Because the area is poorly maintained,

when the structure dips back underground. For a

the glass is often smashed, heavily vandalized

significant stretch of the village, this vital piece of

with graffiti, and used as convenient trash cans by

heritage simply disappears beneath the asphalt. Its

passersby. You don’t experience the history or the

presence is only marked by a series of strange, glass

scale of the aqueduct at all. It proves that simply

pyramid skylights scattered along the sidewalks.

“showing” heritage is not enough; if it doesn’t have an active, respected role in the community’s

These pyramids are intended to let you look

daily life, it will inevitably become just another

down into the ancient tunnel, but the reality is

target for neglect.

III. Olympic village

3.09 PHOTO ANALYSIS: FUNCTIONS An imbalance of amenities

When exploring the daily amenities of the Olympic

network of small, decentralized pavilion-style

Village, a strange imbalance in programming

shops distributed evenly across the residential

becomes apparent. On an institutional level, the

blocks. These were specifically designed to

neighborhood is actually relatively well-equipped;

provide athletes with immediate, walkable access

there are multiple schools scattered throughout the

to daily necessities and coffee. Today, the fate of

residential grid, alongside a functioning medical

these small structures tells a grim story about

center and a local police station. Just outside the

the village’s economic viability and post-game

strict borders of the village, a larger commercial

management.

strip provides some broader retail options. However, the true failure of the urban fabric lies in the micro-scale commercial spaces. During the 2004 Games, the masterplan included a smart

III. Olympic village

The

decline

commercial

the

staggering.

twenty original pavilion shops intended to

an urban food desert. For a neighborhood of this

serve the neighborhood, a shocking reality

physical size and population, having only three

remains: only three are currently operating.

functioning local shops is entirely insufficient.

The

shutters

Residents are forced to leave the village and rely

permanently closed, often caught in a web

heavily on their cars just to buy basic groceries

of economic stagnation and complex local

or grab a coffee. This lack of vibrant, localized

political disputes over licensing and ownership.

programming not only hurts the local economy,

abandoned,

their

This massive reduction in commercial activity has essentially turned the Olympic Village into

stand

decentralized the

rest

network

village’s

but it strips the streets of their potential to be lively, socially active meeting spaces.

III. Olympic village

3.10 PHOTO ANALYSIS: SURROUNDINGS Barriers all around

When you walk to the edges of the Olympic Village,

up toward the mountains, simply dissolves into

the illusion of an open, model neighborhood

neglected, empty plots that are unfortunately

abruptly ends. The village doesn’t naturally blend

often used as improvised, illegal dumping

into the surrounding landscape or adjacent

grounds. The physical contrast between the inside

communities; it hits a hard wall. The entire perimeter

of the village and its immediate surroundings is

is defined by harsh, impenetrable barriers.

jarring.

To the east, the sprawling grounds of the Hellenic Air Force Academy create a massive dead zone, securely fenced off from the residential grid. To the west, the heavy infrastructure of the main highway acts as a concrete moat. Even the northern edge, which theoretically opens

The spatial reality is that the Olympic Village

organic

is completely squeezed between immovable

connectivity to the wider region, and eliminate

forces:

aggressive

the possibility of a “soft edge” where the village

highways, and fragmented private property. The

could interact with nature. Instead of acting as

continuous fence line running along the entire

a catalyst for the surrounding area, as the 2004

eastern edge is particularly damaging, acting

planners originally intended, the village functions

as a visual and physical barricade that cuts off

as a quarantined island, completely locked in by

the village from any natural eastern flow.

its hostile and unyielding surroundings.

the

academic

airport,

urban

expansion,

block

pedestrian

These hard borders severely damage

the

livability

of the area. They prevent any

III. Olympic village

3.11

PHOTO ANALYSIS: MUNICIPALITY: ARCHANES The gradient of sprawl

To truly grasp the context of the Olympic

developments, sporadic industrial plots, and

Village, it is essential to look at the broader

unfinished

municipality it belongs to: Archanes. Walking

phenomenon of ‘uncontrollable sprawl’ becomes

the route from the historic, compact center of

painfully tangible. This transition explains the

Archanes outward toward the village reveals

immense administrative and spatial challenge

facing Archanes: a local government trying to

fascinating

and

telling

spatial

gradient.

concrete

structures.

Here,

the

manage a dense historic core on one side, and a In the historic core, you find a dense, human-

chaotic, sprawling periphery, including an isolated

scaled village fabric with narrow streets, active

Olympic Village, on the other.

public life, and a strong sense of community identity. However, as you move further away from the center, this urbanity rapidly dissolves. The dense fabric gives way to fragmented

III. Olympic village

3.12 COMMUNITY ENERGY

The will to reclaim the neighborhood

While the physical analysis of the Olympic Village

However, their admirable efforts also highlight

often points to failure, the social reality on the

the fundamental flaw of the original 2004

ground tells a much more hopeful story. During

masterplan. The sheer, megalomanic scale of the

my fieldwork, I had the privilege of meeting a

village’s infrastructure and public space makes it

dedicated group of young residents who have

impossible for a small community group to tackle

lived in the village for most of their lives. Our

the decay on their own. They have the motivation

conversations quickly validated my earlier spatial

and the energy, but they are fighting an uphill

observations: the stark contrast between the

battle against an oversized concrete landscape. It

flourishing private gardens and the decaying public

became clear to me that to truly save the village,

streets is absolutely not caused by resident apathy.

this existing community energy doesn’t need to be created; it simply needs a structural framework

On the contrary, there is a tremendous amount

that empowers the residents to reclaim the void

of grassroots energy within the community.

systematically.

This local group actively organizes to clean up neglected areas, repair vandalized structures, and breathe life back into their surroundings. They care deeply about their home and are more than willing to put in the physical work to improve it. The desire to elevate the neighborhood and fix the broken public realm is undeniably present.

III. Olympic village

3.12 ANALYSIS: CONCLUSION Strengths

Weaknesses

Cultural heritage:

Infrastructure:

The

Hadrian’s

Aqueduct

provides

rare

and impressive historical asset on the site.

Extremely wide streets encourage speeding, while

unused

parking

areas

and

excessive

pavement create a harsh pedestrian environment. Solid housing: Buildings are maintained, accessible, with active

Neglected public space:

balconies, showing resident engagement.

Green spaces are unused, amenities are broken, and the “Business Zone” entry is abandoned,

Green core:

creating an unwelcoming atmosphere.

Significant amount of green space, especially along the central axis, making it greener than

Lack of amenities:

central Athens.

With only 3 of 20 original shops operating, the village is a “food desert” that fails to provide basic

Unique morphology:

daily needs.

A planned, uniform “urban island” with a distinct character, unlike the surrounding sprawl.

Underwhelming heritage: The aqueduct’s presentation is uninspired and

Sports facilities:

neglected, failing to realize its potential.

Key sports amenities (pool, courts) are present and in use by the community.

Clustered sports: Sports facilities are clustered on the edge, disconnected from the daily life of the village core.

Opportunities

Threats

Repurpose “lost” space:

Isolation:

The unused infrastructure (wide roads, parking

The village is “squeezed” by hard barriers: a

lots) offers immense potential for conversion into

major highway and a fenced-off military airport,

new green areas, social spaces, and sports zones.

hindering

Activate the “Green Spine”:

Connectivity:

physical

and

social

connections.

The nearby train station is hard to reach and

transformed into an ecological and recreational

expensive, while busses are infrequent. This

corridor,

reinforces the village’s dependence on cars and

The

neglected with

central

the

axis

aqueduct

could as

the

core.

its isolation. Create a destination: Using the unique combination of Olympic legacy,

Political issues:

Roman heritage, and available space to create a

A history of failed planning and municipal

unique destination for sports and culture.

inaction suggests future projects could face similar roadblocks if not strategically designed

Community energy:

and championed.

Build on existing resident initiatives and address the expressed need for better public spaces and

Future of the Airport:

activities for children.

The adjacent military airport represents a major unknown. Its continued presence reinforces the hard eastern barrier.

04 89

IV. Scenario’s

4.01 SCENARIO STUDY Discovering the possibilities

The SWOT analyses brought various positives and

from within the village. This was something else

negatives about the Olympic Village to the surface.

the scenario’s could differ from. Putting atleast

Based on the SWOT analyses multiple scenarios

a scenario in each one of the four quarters on

are formed. Most of them taking a strenght,

the graph helped create even more diverging

adressing a weakness, using an opportunity and

scenarios.

finally reducing a risk. Apart from adressing the SWOT, the scenarios could take many forms. Looking at other analyses the village could both function on it own or within it surroundings. It could be managed top down or

TOP DOWN SPORTS UTOPIA

OLYMPIC FARM

OLYMPIC ARRIVAL

I N T R O V E R T

E X T R A V E R T OLYMPIC WILDERNESS

COMMON GROUND

BOTTOM UP

1. Sports Utopia This scenario transforms the village into a world-class, high-performance sports campus, a destination where every square meter is dedicated to physical achievement. The Olympic legacy is taken to the extreme here, creating an energetic, competitive environment. 2. Olympic Wilderness Here, the village is returned to nature and transformed into a radical, wild oasis, serving as an ecological buffer zone and sanctuary. It is a well-thoughtout response to the heat stress of Athens, aimed at maximum tranquility and biodiversity for residents. 3. Common Ground In this scenario, all public space is fragmented and transferred to the residents, who are given complete freedom to fill their own plot. The result is an internal, self-declared ‘free state’ of individual expression, a mosaic of private dreams and initiatives. 4. Olympic Farm This scenario envisions a community-driven, productive ecosystem, focused on local food production, craftsmanship, and a circular economy. The authenticity of the products and the lively, cooperative atmosphere make it a unique destination for conscious consumers. 5. Olympic Arrival As a powerful social statement, the village becomes a model project for the integration and empowerment of newcomers. It is a vibrant ‘start-up city’ that offers education, employment opportunities, and grows into a symbol of hope and cultural fusion.

IV. Scenario’s

4.02 SPORTS UTOPIA

Scenario 1 | TOP DOWN - EXTRAVERT

International Sport Hub attracts talent & events

Strength enhanced: Sports Weakness adressed: Clustered sports, infrastructure

International airport

Opportunity used: Creating a destination

Athens

Threat reduced: Connectivity, future airport

Target group

Metropolitan scale

This utopia is engineered for a specific kind

On a metropolitan scale, the Sports Utopia

of resident. The individual devoted to physical

functions as the new engine for athletics and a

performance. This includes professional athletes

global destination for sports innovation. It could

requiring world-class training facilities at their

serve as a catalyst for economic growth, attracting

doorstep, aspiring young talents, and sports

international competitions and training camps.

scientists

and

By world-class facilities, it repositions Athens not

innovate. The community is defined not by age

only as the historic birthplace of the Olympics,

or origin, but by a shared pursuit of peak physical

but as a central hub for the future of sports

achievement.

performance.

and

coaches

who

research

A spread out sports campus offering

every

function

and

necessity required to perform at the top

IV. Scenario’s

Vincent (24), professional tennis player, resident of the Sports Utopia 06:45 - Awakening Vincent’s morning begins on the rooftop. He steps directly from his apartment building onto the elevated running track that connects the entire housing block. Below him, the central axis is still quiet. He completes his circuit, passing over the glass roofs of the indoor gyms and looking down into the empty basketball courts of the inner courtyards, before descending for breakfast. 09:00 - Morning Session: Data & Physical Training After his session in the Performance Lab near the entrance, Vincent walks through the central axis. What used to be a park is now a wide, functional valley of turf fields and professional-grade tartan tracks. He navigates between sprinting teams. 14:00 - Afternoon Session: Competition His training match takes place in the ‘Tennis Hub,’ a cluster of gravel courts where a former parking lot used to be. The match is intense, watched by neighbours from their balconies which now function as informal skyboxes. Afterwards, he crosses the main track to the repurposed hangar on the former airfield, now a vast indoor hall for his strength and conditioning workout. 20:00 - Evening: Recovery & Focus The day ends not with rest, but with active recovery. He takes a slow walk along the main running track, now lit by bright stadium lights. The area remains active with night runners and cyclists, their motion creating a constant, quiet energy that defines the entire village.

Isometric atmosphere

Reference projects

Red Bull Athelete Performance Center Thalgau, Austria This state-of-the-art facility serves as a key reference for its integration of high-tech data analysis and human performance. It embodies the scenario’s ambition to create an environment where

every

aspect,

from

architecture

landscape, is meticulously designed to optimize athletic potential.

Papendal Arhnem, Netherlands Papendal is a prime example of a fully integrated, large-scale sports campus where living, training, and innovation coexist. It informs the masterplan by showing how a diverse range of elite sports facilities can be clustered to create a single, coherent ecosystem. The project provides a model for how the Olympic Village could function as a self-contained world dedicated entirely to sport.

IV. Scenario’s

4.03 OLYMPIC WILDERNESS

Scenario 2 | BOTTOM UP - EXTRAVERT

Green Oasis Stand on its own

Strength enhanced: Green core Weakness adressed: Neglected public space Opportunity used: Activate green spine

Athens People escaping the urban life

Threat reduced: Future airport

Target group

Metropolitan scale

This oasis is designed for residents who seek

On the metropolitan scale, the Olympic Wilderness

refuge from the intensity of urban life. The target

functions as the ecological lung for northern

audience includes nature lovers, academics, artists,

Athens. It serves as a vital ‘cool island’ that actively

and families who prioritize tranquility, clean air,

combats the urban heat island, measurably

and a deep connection to a natural environment.

lowering

It is a community for those who value ecological

neighborhoods. It acts as a biodiversity hub in

sustainability over urban convenience and who

the regional ecological network, while serving

see their home not just as a shelter, but as an

as a large-scale, living laboratory for climate

integrated part of the landscape.

adaptation and urban rewilding strategies for the entire city.

temperatures

surrounding

A natural force has taken over the Olympic Village, turning it into a landscape park where the grid is barely visible anymore

IV. Scenario’s

George (35), ecologist and resident of the Green Oasis 07:00 - Morning: The Boardwalk Commute George’s day begins with the sound of birdsong filtering through the dense canopy outside his window. His ‘commute’ to the research center on the former airfield is a walk along the wandering paths. The morning mist hangs over the ground of the central axis. 11:00 - Midday: Fieldwork in the Courtyard His fieldwork doesn’t take him far. The inner courtyard of his building cluster, now a miniature ecosystem with a central spot, is his primary research site. He spends the late morning quietly observing voxes and taking ground samples. 16:00 - Afternoon: Observing from Above From his balcony, which serves as a personal observation deck, George watches the landscape. He tracks the movement of a rabbit through the undergrowth of what was once a wide, asphalt road. The residential buildings no longer stand in a grid, but as ‘towers’ in a forest, with green, overgrown facades blending into the scenery. 20:00 - Evening: The Soundscape of the Night As dusk falls, the area transforms. The only light comes from the apartments, casting a warm glow on the foliage. The sounds of the city are distant, replaced by croaking of frogs from the central stream and the rustle of leaves in the wind. It is a complete immersion in a wildness that has reclaimed the city’s edge.

Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord Duisburg, Germany This project embraces and romanticizes postindustrial decay. It informs the scenario by showing how existing structures. Like the concrete remnants of the Olympic Village can be left to be reclaimed by nature. Becoming beautiful ‘ruins’ within a wild landscape.

Knepp Estate England Knepp is a example of large-scale ‘rewilding’, demonstrating how a landscape can successfully be returned to nature. It serves as the primary conceptual

reference

for

allowing

natural

processes to dictate the form and character of the site, creating a complex, biodiverse, and selfsustaining ecosystem rather than a manicured park.

IV. Scenario’s

4.04 COMMON GROUND

Scenario 3 | BOTTOM UP - INTROVERT

Common Ground

Strength enhanced: Solid housing Weakness adressed: Lack amenities Opportunity used: Repurpose lost space, community energy

Athens Individuals seeking private plots

Threat reduced: Isolation, political issues

Target group

Metropolitan scale

This scenario is designed for the everyday

On the metropolitan scale, Common Ground

Athenian who finds the greatest joy in their own

doesn’t function as a single destination. Instead,

private space. It taps into a core aspect of Greek

it acts as a group of thousands of private plots, a

culture: the love for a personal garden, a balcony

vast resource of affordable space in the city. While

filled with plants. It’s for the people who by nature

mainly focused inward, it is

invest more care and identity in their private

for activities that the dense city can no longer

domain than in anonymous public spaces. The

accommodate. Plots could be leased or sold to

target audience is not a niche group, but a broad

any Athenian citizen, making the village a unique

representation of residents who seek the simple,

patchwork of the entire city’s population, each

profound freedom to build, grow, and create in

pursuing their own private dream.

a space that is truly theirs.

100

providing space

Unused public space is privatized and given out in small plots to residents. Creating a bizar new grid-structure

101

IV. Scenario’s

Eleonora (42), a jewelry maker and resident of the Common Ground 07:00 - Morning: Checking the Perimeter Eleonora’s day starts with a walk around her plot. It’s a small territory she carved out of what was once a wide, empty street. She checks the fence she built last year from recycled pallets and inspects the tomatoes growing in her vegetable patch. 11:00 - Midday: The Workshop She spends the late morning in her workshop, a shed she built herself at the back of her plot. The sound of her hammering and soldering is a familiar part of the neighborhood’s soundscape, mixed with her neighbor’s power tools and another’s chickens. She doesn’t interact much with them directly, but the shared noise of productivity creates a sense of connection. 16:00 - Afternoon: A Transaction at the Edge A customer from central Athens arrives. They don’t come into her private plot but meet at the marketplace an informal area along the main access road where residents sell or trade their goods. Eleonora exchanges a handmade silver necklace for a jar of honey from a neighbor. 20:00 - Evening: The View from the Porch As evening falls, Eleonora sits on the small porch she built. She doesn’t look out at a grand public space, but at the unique, chaotic landscape of other people’s creations: the top of a self-made greenhouse, a strangely painted shed, a wildly overgrown garden. The village isn’t beautiful in a traditional sense, but it’s a perfect, unfiltered reflection of the hundreds of individuals who live there.

102

Oosterwold Almere, Netherlands Oosterwold is a key reference for its radical approach to bottom-up urban development. The government provides only a basic grid of roads and utilities, after which residents are given almost complete freedom to build their own homes and cultivate their land. It is a real-world example of how a large area can develop based on individual initiative rather than a central masterplan.

Kumpula allotment garden Helsinki, Finland The Kumpula gardens provide the aesthetic and social reference for the scenario. They show the rich, chaotic, and charming visual character that emerges when hundreds of individuals create their own small paradise. It is a model for the small-scale, human-centered environment that results from personal care and creativity, forming a vibrant mosaic of sheds, gardens, and pathways.

103

IV. Scenario’s

4.05 OLYMPIC FARM

Scenario 4 | TOP DOWN - INTROVERT

Olympic Farm

Strength enhanced: Solid housing Weakness adressed: export knowledge

Lack amenities, neglected public space Opportunity used: Repurpose

lost

space,

community energy

export products

Threat reduced: Isolation Target group

Metropolitan scale

This village is for people who want to be part

The Productive Village is not a tourist destination,

of something bigger than themselves. The

but a demonstration project. It functions as

target audience includes young idealists, skilled

a living laboratory for circular economies and

craftspeople, eco-conscious families and social

self-sufficiency. Attracting study visits from city

entrepreneurs who believe in the power of

planners and community groups from across

community and local production. They are drawn

Europe. Daily life is mostly inward-focused, its

to a lifestyle where the line between living and

biggest export is knowledge. Providing Athens

working blurs, and where they have a direct

with a prototype of a sustainable future and offers

hand in creating a sustainable, self-reliant, and

locally produced goods to a niche market of

cooperative neighborhood.

conscious consumers.

104

The village is transformed in a neighborhood fully centered around self sufficiency and production

105

IV. Scenario’s IV. Scenario’s

Alex (32), a carpenter and resident of the Productive Village. 07:00 - The Greenhouse Check-in Alex’s day starts with a short walk from his apartment to the massive, climate-controlled greenhouse that spans the central axis of the village. Inside he checks the nutrient levels and growth progress of the tomato and cucumber crops. Automated systems and robots handle most of the physical work, so his job is to monitor, analyze data, and optimize the process. 11:00 - Midday: A Walk Through the Campus He takes a break and walks through the campus. The village feels calm and organized. The streets are clean, used mainly by small electric utility vehicles transporting goods. He passes the silent, towering vertical farms where leafy greens are grown under purple LED lights. 16:00 - Afternoon: Harvest at the Hub In the afternoon, Alex supervises the robotic harvest. The produce is automatically transported to the ‘Food Hub,’ the central processing and distribution center located on the edge of the village. There everything is sorted, packaged, and prepared for delivery to select restaurants in Athens or for sale in the community’s own small grocery store. 20:00 - Evening: Community Dinner Alex’s day ends not at home, but at the community canteen located in the ‘Business Zone’. He and his fellow residents eat a meal prepared entirely with ingredients grown within a 500-meter radius of where they sit.

106

Detroit Urban Farms US Detroit’s urban farming movement is a reference for community-led regeneration. It shows how vacant, post-industrial land can be transformed into productive green spaces that provide fresh food, create jobs, and build community spirit. This reference informs the scenario’s focus on food production as a central pillar for social and economic renewal.

Vauban Freiburg, Germany Vauban is a famous example of a sustainably planned eco-district. It serves as a reference for the topdown planning of a community built on principles of low energy consumption, cooperative living and prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists. Vauban provides the model for the scenario’s integrated approach, where architecture, landscape, and social structures are all designed to support a sustainable lifestyle.

107

IV. Scenario’s

4.06 OLYMPIC ARRIVAL

Scenario 5 | TOP DOWN - EXTRAVERT

Integration Village

Strength enhanced: Solid housing

Arrival newcomers

Weakness adressed: Lack amenities Opportunity used: Repurpose

lost

space,

community energy

Integrated citizen

Threat reduced: Political issues

Target group

Metropolitan scale

This village is for people who want to be part

The Productive Village is not a tourist destination,

of something bigger than themselves. The

but a demonstration project. It functions as

target audience includes young idealists, skilled

a living laboratory for circular economies and

craftspeople, eco-conscious families and social

self-sufficiency. Attracting study visits from city

entrepreneurs who believe in the power of

planners and community groups from across

community and local production. They are drawn

Europe. Daily life is mostly inward-focused, its

to a lifestyle where the line between living and

biggest export is knowledge. Providing Athens

working blurs, and where they have a direct

with a prototype of a sustainable future and offers

hand in creating a sustainable, self-reliant, and

locally produced goods to a niche market of

cooperative neighborhood.

conscious consumers.

108

The

village

divided

‘guilds‘ on various disciplines and subjects shaping their integration

109

IV. Scenario’s

Amina (31), a former software developer from Syria, resident of the Olympic Arrival. 09:00 - Morning: Language and Code Amina starts her day not in a traditional apartment, but in a “live-learn” unit. After dropping her daughter off at the crèche in the inner courtyard, she goes to her intensive Greek language class on the ground floor of the next building over. Afterwards, she heads to the ‘Digital Guild’ hub to continue her retraining course in a new programming language. 13:00 - Midday: The Agora of the World Lunch is a busy, social affair on the central axis. She buys a cheap, delicious lunch from a food stall run by a resident from Spain and eats with her classmates on the steps of the old Roman aqueduct, now a popular meeting spot. The air is filled with a mix of languages. 16:00 - Afternoon: Mentorship at the Embassy In the afternoon, Amina has an appointment at the ‘Welcome & Opportunity Embassy’ near the entrance. Here, a mentor from a Athenian tech company helps her polish her CV and prepares her for job interviews. The building is a bridge to the outside world, a formal and professional space that connects her skills with the needs of the city’s job market. 19:00 - Evening: Community Dinner Amina’s day ends back at the central axis. A band of Afghan and Greek musicians is playing on the central open-air stage. She watches the performance with her daughter and neighbors from all over the world. The village isn’t just a place to live or study; it’s a place where a new, shared Athenian culture is being created every day.

110

“Arrival City” by Doug Saunders (Book) This book is the core conceptual reference for the scenario. The research identifies the key spatial and economic ingredients that make integration successful

migrant

neighborhoods.

High

density, flexible spaces for small businesses, and strong community networks. The Olympic Arrival is a conscious, top-down attempt to design these conditions.

The Student Hotel Various locations, Europe The Student Hotel provides an architectural and programmatic model for a hybrid community where living, learning, and working overlap. It informs the scenario with its common spaces, its mix of residents (students, young professionals, travelers), and its focus on creating a community and connection. It’s a blueprint for a collective living environment.

111

112

05 113

V. The Olympic Game

5.01 CHOSEN DIRECTION

After evaluating the future possibilities, ‘Common

This spatial intervention fundamentally changes

Ground’ emerges as the only viable path forward.

how the village is governed and maintained.

Rather than imposing a single, top-down theme

Currently, the Municipality of Acharnes carries

onto the Olympic Village, this approach completely

a centralized responsibility for an immense

decentralizes the programming. By issuing the

amount of public space. The formula is fatal: high

vast, unmanageable public void as individual

maintenance costs combined with a low municipal

private plots, residents are given the agency to

budget inevitably lead to systemic neglect.

decide what their neighborhood needs. The true strength of the Common Ground scenario is that

The Common Ground scenario solves this by

it acts as a spatial umbrella. It creates room for all

distributing the responsibility. By transferring the

the other scenarios to happen simultaneously:

public void to the residents as private space, the

one resident might cultivate an ‘Olympic Farm’,

massive burden of maintenance is lifted from

another might build a ‘Sports Utopia’ court,

the local government. As the earlier analysis

while others let their plot grow into an ‘Olympic

proved: personal ownership triggers active care.

Wilderness’. The masterplan becomes a dynamic

The residents become the stewards of their own

mosaic of personal initiatives.

environment, transforming a municipal liability into a community asset.

114

Centralized responsibility

Municipality of Acharnes

Olympic Village

high maintenance costs + low municipal budget = systemic neglect

Distributed responsiblity

Olympic Village

private labor/investment + personal ownership = active care!

115

PUBLIC

Hoofdstuk etc hier

PRIVATE

116

117

V. The Olympic Game

Exaggarated conclusion

The visual evidence across the Olympic Village is undeniable: where the centralized municipality fails to maintain the public realm, the residents succeed beautifully in cultivating their private domains. The core design challenge is how to use this natural human instinct, the drive to care for what is yours, as an active urban tool to save the neighborhood.

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5.02 THE OLYMPIC GAME Ownership triggers care

“ THE TRUE OLYMPIC SPIRIT ISN’T A CONCRETE STADIUM. IT IS A STRICT FIELD OF PLAY, A SET OF RULES, A REFEREE AND THE PLAYERS ”

To find the answer, we must return to the original

When looking at the Olympic Village today, all

identity of the site. The true legacy of the Olympics

these ingredients are already present, but they

is not found in monumental, decaying concrete

are misaligned. To activate the neighborhood,

stadiums, but in the fundamental mechanics

we must initiate a new kind of urban game.

of a sport. Every game, no matter how complex,

By systematically parceling out the neglected

relies on four basic elements to function: a strictly

public void, we redefine it as the new Field of

defined Field of Play, a clear set of Rules, an

Play. The municipality steps back from its failing

impartial Referee, and the active participation of

maintenance role to act purely as the Referee,

the Players.

overseeing a basic set of Rules. Finally, the residents are given the ultimate agency to become the Players, empowered with the private ownership needed to shape, program, and maintain their environment.

PLAYERS

FIELD OF PLAY REFEREE

The rules create the boundary, the referee oversees, and the players enter the field of play to shape it.

RULES

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V. The Olympic Game

5.03 RULE BASED DESIGN References

Allotment garden REGULATED FREEDOM (One-Third Rule) To prevent allotment gardens from becoming cheap holiday resorts or paved patios, a strict programmatic

ratio.

This

ensures

that

the

primary function, food production and greenery is maintained while allowing for individual expression.

The 1/3 Formula: 1/3 Built: Shed and covered seating. 1/3 Cultivation: Fruit and vegetables (Mandatory). 1/3 Ornamental: Lawn and flowers.

120

New York pops THE VALUE EXCHANGE Incentive Zoning & The Plaza Bonus New York City introduced a system where developers could buy the right to build higher (private gain) in exchange for creating and maintaining public plazas at street level (public good). It turns urban planning into a transaction.

The Trade-Off: Public Contribution: The building sets back to create a plaza. Private Reward: The developer receives a “Floor Area Bonus” (Red Volume) to build higher.

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Oosterwold RADICAL SELF-ORGANIZATION Infrastructure as a Private Responsibility In Oosterwold, the government does not pave roads or lay pipes. Residents buy a plot of agricultural land and are contractually obliged to build the necessary infrastructure themselves, often collaborating with neighbors.

The All-Inclusive Plot: The Road: Is not public property, but part of the private plot. The Ratio: Strict percentages dictate how much must remain agricultural (green) vs. built (white).

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5.04 INTRODUCING THE ‘PLAYERS’ To understand how The Olympic Game works

boundaries of their apartments. They represent

in practice, we must look at the people who will

the diverse frustrations and ambitions of the

actually play it. The following ‘Players’ are directly

community. By stepping into their shoes, we

based on the residents I met during my fieldwork.

can clearly see how providing them with agency

They don’t want a utopian, top-down masterplan;

over the public void can solve their individual

they have very practical, everyday spatial needs

problems while collectively upgrading the entire

that currently cannot be met within the rigid

neighborhood.

MARIA (28) – Claiming the

GINI (26) – Finding room to work

outdoors Living

NIKO

(32)

–

Coaching

the

community in

As an upper-floor resident and a

Niko is a local football trainer

the

passionate hobby carpenter, Gini

whose ambition goes beyond

disconnect between her home

faces a practical spatial problem:

private use; he sees the potential

and the vast, unused public

his apartment is too small and

for community building. He is

space right outside her window.

too noisy for his woodwork. He

tired of training his teams on

Operating

restricted

urgently

needs

dedicated,

dangerous, worn-out patches

budget, her goal is simple but

spacious

workshop

avoid

of grass. Utilizing a subsidized

highly impactful: she wants to

conflicts

with

neighbors.

budget, his goal is to claim a

claim a small plot of land to

With a moderate budget, he

larger zone and construct a

create a private garden and

looks to the empty plots below

proper, regulated sports field for

a shed. For her, the game is

as the perfect opportunity to

the neighborhood. For Niko, the

about extending her living room

build a functional workspace

game is a tool to restore social

into the open air and taking

outside the strict confines of his

infrastructure and bring the

ownership of her immediate

residential block.

youth together.

apartment,

ground-floor

Maria

feels

a his

surroundings. 123

V. The Olympic Game

5.05 THE FIELD OF PLAY Defining the new boundaries

Stripping the excess

OVERSIZED PARKING

The first step in establishing the new Field of Play is addressing the village’s inherited layer of asphalt. As the ‘Current Situation’ map highlights, the 2004 masterplan left behind a staggering amount

oversized

infrastructure.

This

includes unnecessarily wide roads and massive, unused parking lots designed purely for the

UNUSED PARKING

temporary logistical peak of the Olympic Games.

UNNECESSARY ROADS

Current situation

To unlock the neighborhood’s potential, we must literally break the concrete. The ‘Proposed Situation’ reduces the vehicular infrastructure to its absolute necessary minimum. By stripping away the redundant asphalt, vast amounts of land are reclaimed. The primary and secondary road grids are preserved strictly to guarantee basic accessibility, emergency routing, and access

PRIMARY ROADS

to the underground parking garages, but the megalomanic scale is permanently erased.

SECONDARY ROADS

EXISTING PATHS

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Proposed situation

The roads form the skeleton of the village. Parking garages stay accessible while infrastructure is reduced. Roads and paths form the public space

The Public Skeleton Once the excess asphalt is removed, what remains is the essential public framework. This EXISTING PATHS

structural ‘Skeleton’ consists of the downsized road network, the existing pedestrian pathways, and the historic route of Hadrian’s Aqueduct. This

continuous,

minimized

public

zone

PATH AQUEDUCT

ensures that the village remains fully navigable, safely

connected,

and

logically

structured.

The ‘Skeleton‘ | public space

The Private Canvas The true conceptual shift of The Olympic Game happens when we invert this skeleton. Everything

Everything except the skeleton and existing places/functions will become privatized

that falls outside the essential public framework, SPORTS COMPLEX

excluding existing critical functions like schools, research centers, and major sports complexes, is fundamentally reclassified. This resulting void becomes privatizable space. This is the actual

EXISTING SCHOOL

Field of Play: a massive, continuous blank canvas handed over to the residents, ready to be claimed,

RESEARCH CENTRE

programmed, and transformed.

MONUMENT SQUARE

PERGOLA STRUCTURES

Private space

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V. The Olympic Game

FIELD OF PLAY Establish a ‘Field of Play’. Adopting

the

10x10

meter

grid, creates a fair, bounded

P E R F E C T ‘HUMAN SCALE’

arena where every resident operates

under

the

exact

same conditions. Countering

the

mega

scale the current village has. The size of a courtyard. Breaking

the

void

PROGRAMMATIC FLEXIBLE

into

managable plots.

10x10m is versatile, with the possibility of merging

ECONOMICALLY ACCESSIBLE The

concept

relies

accommodate

larger

functions.

‘ownership triggers care’, it needs to be accessible for everyone.

The 10x10 meter grid is the fundamental building

programmatically flexible. A single plot easily

block of The Olympic Game. It acts as the

accommodates a private garden, a shed, or a

perfect spatial antidote to the megalomanic

small workshop. For those with bigger ambitions,

infrastructure of the 2004 masterplan, breaking

the system is highly versatile: players can merge

the vast, unmanageable public void down into

multiple plots together to facilitate much larger

a relatable human scale. In the metaphor of the

community functions, such as sports courts or

game, this standard dimension ensures a fair field

urban farms.

of play. It provides an equal starting point for every participant, ensuring that no player gains an unfair

When this 10x10 framework is projected onto the

advantage simply due to pre-existing wealth.

newly defined private canvas, it completely fills the void. As the map illustrates, the grid extends

Because the core philosophy of this strategy

all the way to the edges of the existing housing

relies on the principle that ‘ownership triggers

blocks. This deliberate projection ensures there is

care’, the plots must be economically accessible

no residual, unassigned space left behind; every

to everyone, including lower-income households.

square meter of the former wasteland is categorized

A 100-square-meter plot is small enough to

and given the potential for active ownership.

remain affordable, yet large enough to be

126

However, projecting a strict grid over such a massive area carries the risk of creating a new type of monotonous, rigid repetition, a mistake of the original top-down planning. To counter this, the overarching grid is intentionally fractured. The layout is composed of specific block patterns that constantly rotate relative to one another. This shifting orientation breaks up the infinite, straight sightlines, resulting in a much more organic, varied, and dynamic spatial experience as residents navigate through their newly claimed neighborhood.

PLOTS REACH UPON EXISTING HOUSING

GRID REPETITION REDUCED BY ROTATING PATTERNS

Privatized grid layout

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V. The Olympic Game

5.06 THE RULES

Guiding creativity, not restricting it

In traditional urban planning, zoning rules are

while leaving the maximum amount of freedom

often designed to restrict, dictate, and limit what

to the residents. The rules are not meant to dictate

people can do. The Olympic Game takes the exact

exactly what a player must build on their 10x10

opposite approach. In this framework, the rules

plot; rather, they provide a flexible framework that

act as the basic agreements between players on

ensures how their individual creation positively

the field. Their primary purpose is to guarantee a

contributes to the wider neighborhood.

baseline of spatial, social, and ecological quality,

128

CLIMATE SURVIVAL

HUMAN SCALE

PROGRAM VARIETY

A direct response to Athens’ severe heat

A counter-reaction to the megalomanic,

A strategy to end the village’s current

crisis. These rules focus on unpaving

oversized infrastructure of the 2004

status as a residential monoculture

the concrete jungle, restoring natural

masterplan. These rules ensure that

and an urban “food desert.” These

water infiltration, maximizing shade,

new developments break down the

rules stimulate a rich mix of functions,

and reintroducing ecology to cool the

vast voids into intimate, pleasant, and

ensuring

urban basin.

highly interactive spaces designed for

workshops, sports, and culture can

people, not vehicles.

organically coexist alongside private

the environment

the physical space

the program and residents

that

local

commerce,

homes.

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V. The Olympic Game

130

5.07 MULTI-SCALAR RULES A cascading framework

Urban design cannot be solved on a single

The macro-framework

dimension. Therefore, the rules of The Olympic

At the highest level, the rules govern the

Game operate as a multi-scalar framework. A

village’s relationship with the rest of Athens. The

single rule doesn’t just dictate a specific plot; it

Village Scale focuses on preserving the primary

ripples outward. Design choices made on the

public skeleton, ensuring large-scale ecological

smallest scale inherently influence the collective

continuity (such as integrating the Hadrian’s

block, shape the wider cluster, and eventually

Aqueduct),

define the overarching identity of the entire

survival strategies to mitigate the urban heat

village. This cascading system ensures that

island effect across the entire basin.

thousands

individual,

bottom-up

and

establishing

global

climate

actions

remain coordinated, seamlessly adding up to one cohesive and functioning urban masterplan.

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V. The Olympic Game

Breaking the monoculture Rules at the Zoning Scale are designed to prevent the area from remaining a sterile residential monoculture or an urban “food desert.” These guidelines manage the broader distribution of programs, ensuring a healthy, balanced mix of residential, commercial, athletic, and ecological zones throughout the different districts of the village.

132

Fostering neighborhood identity Stepping down to the Cluster Scale, the rules focus on the interaction between multiple housing blocks. This level regulates shared local resources, micro-mobility routing, and collective public spaces, ensuring that clusters develop their own vibrant sub-centers and social dynamics within the larger grid.

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V. The Olympic Game

Negotiating the transition The Block Scale acts as the crucial mediator between the existing 2004 architecture and the newly privatized grid. Rules here dictate how the new plots physically connect to the old housing. They safeguard essential qualities like natural light, privacy, and accessibility, ensuring a harmonious spatial transition rather than a clash.

134

The domain of the Player The Plot Scale is the smallest, yet most active level of the game. Here, the rules dictate the physical execution on the individual 10x10 meter canvas. They set practical boundaries for the ‘Players’, such as maximum building heights, mandatory permeable surface ratios for water infiltration, and volume restrictions to guarantee that every personal intervention contributes to a pleasant human scale.

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V. The Olympic Game

5.08 PLAYING THE GAME

MUNICIPALITY

LONG - TERM LAND LEASE

REGULAR OVERSIGHT MAINTAIN RESPONSIBILITY

RENT & COMPLIANCE

VILLAGE COOPERATIVE

PLAYERS

RENTS OUT PLOTS ENFORCES RULES

The Village Cooperative

Growth and the Soft Cap

To make The Olympic Game function, the

The game encourages players to grow their

administrative

ambitions by merging multiple plots, but it

structure

must

change.

The

Municipality of Acharnes steps back from its

strictly

failing role as the primary caretaker and transfers

and monopolies. This is managed through an

the land to a newly formed ‘Village Cooperative’.

exponential rent model: while a single plot is

This cooperative acts as the independent Referee

highly affordable, adding a second, third, or fourth

of the game. It issues the long-term land leases

plot increases the rent exponentially. Furthermore,

to the residents, collects the plot rents, and

there is a ‘soft cap’ at four plots. If a resident or

oversees compliance with the rules. By shifting

group wants to claim a larger ensemble (for

this responsibility, the municipality saves on

example, to build a major facility), they must earn

maintenance

cooperative

a democratic mandate. Expansion beyond four

ensures that the land remains a community asset

plots requires a participatory vote, needing more

governed by local oversight.

than 85% approval from nearby plot owners.

136

costs,

while

the

prevents

aggressive

land-grabbing

Single plot - Rent €5/mo

Double plot - Rent €20/mo

Quad (max) plot - Rent €100/mo

Ensemble plot* - Rent €100/4 plots/mo

*To be granted a ensemble plot a participatory voting must return >85% positive votes of nearby plot owners

Tetris Logic When claiming multiple plots, residents are

blocking the designated public pedestrian paths

not forced into rigid squares. The system uses

(Level III rules), players can arrange their territory

a flexible ‘Tetris Logic’. As long as the claimed

in whatever shape best suits their programmatic

plots share a physical border and strictly avoid

needs.

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V. The Olympic Game

NEGLECT & THE ‘RED CARD’

INCENTIVE TO PUBLIC GOOD

PUBLIC AMENITIES

CLIMATE ACTION

VIOLATING & UNMAINTAINED

Dedicating a plot to shared uses (like sports courts or public seating) subsidizes the players rent

Generating renewable energy (solar) or actively retaining water (silos) earns financial credits

Because land is leased and not sold, the Cooperative protects the community from decay and monopolies

To cluster functions, creating a group of more than 4 plots of the same type rent is also reduced.

The contract is terminated, the physical structure is cleared, and the plot resets to the community pool

Incentivizing the Public Good Because

the

game

heavily

Neglect & The Red Card privatizes

the

Ownership triggers care, but lease contracts

public void, there must be a mechanism to

require accountability. If a player severely neglects

ensure community amenities still emerge. The

their plot, allows it to fall into decay, or structurally

cooperative achieves this not by forcing public

violates the core rules, the cooperative steps in

functions, but by financially incentivizing them.

as the referee. The ultimate penalty is the ‘Red

Players who dedicate their private plots to shared

Card’. The land lease is immediately terminated,

uses, such as public seating, playgrounds, or sports

any physical structures are cleared, and the plot is

courts, receive significant rent subsidies. Similarly,

reset and returned to the community pool, ready

players taking ‘Climate Action’ by generating

to be claimed by a new player.

renewable energy or actively retaining rainwater are rewarded with financial credits. Doing good for the neighborhood becomes economically beneficial.

138

1. 10 YEAR CYCLE

2. LEAVING A PLOT

3. LEFTOVERS

renewal guaranteed if rules are met.

resident leaves or passes away.

plot returns to the community pool.

The Relay

physical investments are sold or

A healthy urban plan must outlive its

dismantled.

current residents. the plot is passed to the next generation, ensuring the field ‘lives’ and adapts over decades.

The 10-Year Cycle The true beauty of The Olympic Game is that it is never ‘finished’. Plots are leased on 10year contracts. If the rules are met, renewal is guaranteed. However, life is dynamic: residents move away, needs change, or people pass away. When a player leaves the game, their plot simply returns to the community pool. Any physical investments can be sold to the next tenant or dismantled. This continuous life cycle ensures that the Olympic Village never becomes a static, obsolete monument again. Instead, it becomes a living, breathing urban plan that constantly adapts to the evolving needs of each new generation.

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V. The Olympic Game

5.09 PROCESS OF LEASING

Navigating the rules To ensure fairness and transparency, every resident must navigate a standardized procedure to claim their space. This flowchart represents the administrative journey of a ‘Player’. From the initial declaration of intent to the final lease agreement, the cooperative’s system systematically checks for spatial priority, scale limits, zoning compatibility, and economic incentives. It acts as an automated, impartial referee, ensuring all fundamental rules are met before any land is officially handed over.

140

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V. The Olympic Game

SCENARIO 1, MARIA’S GARDEN

The ground-floor advantage Maria applies for a single plot to create a private garden. Because she lives in a ground-floor apartment, the system grants her spatial priority for the land immediately adjacent to her home. Her request is small (well under the four-plot cap) and her intended function (greenery) is universally accepted without causing any nuisance. She easily passes all checks and is quickly granted a standard lease.

142

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V. The Olympic Game

SCENARIO 2, GINI’S WORKSHOP

Zoning and the noise buffer Gini, an upper-floor resident, applies for a double plot to build a carpentry workshop. He initially selects a space directly below his building. However, during the ‘Zoning Check’, the system flags his workshop as a noise-generating function. To protect the residential peace and maintain the ‘Human Scale’ core value, the rules enforce a mandatory buffer zone. Gini is redirected to select an alternative plot slightly further away from the housing facades before his lease is approved.

144

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V. The Olympic Game

SCENARIO 3, NIKO’S SPORTS FIELD

Democracy and public subsidies Niko’s ambition is to build a community sports field, which requires an ensemble of six plots. Because this exceeds the standard soft cap of four, his application triggers a mandatory ‘Voting Check’. He must pitch his idea and secure an 85% approval rate from nearby plot owners. Once the community democratic mandate is achieved, he proceeds. Finally, because his sports field provides a significant public amenity, the ‘Economics’ check automatically applies a heavy rent subsidy to his contract.

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V. The Olympic Game

5.10 SIMULATING

Algorithmic urbanism as a testing ground

kaisersrot, algorithmic urbanism, KCAP

During the research phase on rule-based design, a key inspiration was the early 2000s project Kaisersrot by KCAP. They utilized a custom algorithm to generate ideal plot distributions based on specific spatial parameters. Inspired by this early form of algorithmic urbanism, a custom digital simulator was built for the Olympic Village. The goal was to test how the newly established rules of The Olympic Game would actually perform when applied simultaneously by thousands of independent players. Instead of drawing a static, finalized masterplan, this tool allows for the simulation of time, market demand, and organic growth, proving the resilience of the rulebook on a macro scale.

148

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V. The Olympic Game

VISUALIZING THE POSSIBILITIES To simulate the variety of all possible functions and usecases there are 4 types of plots: GREEN, FARM, SPORT and WORKSHOP. Each with 3 variants and a MERGED type.

Categorizing the possibilities

Simulation 1: Total Chaos

To effectively simulate the endless variety of

The first simulation run tests a scenario with

resident initiatives, all possible functions are

zero rules and zero zoning. Plots spawn entirely

categorized into four core plot types: Green,

randomly based on sheer ‘market demand’. The

Farm, Sport, and Workshop. Every individual idea

result is a highly fragmented, chaotic urban fabric

fits within these broad categories, allowing the

where incompatible functions clash and logic is

simulator to calculate their distinct spatial and

lost.

environmental impacts. Simulation 2: Introducing Zoning In the second run, active zoning is introduced. The simulator demonstrates how underlying zones naturally pull specific plot types together. This creates logical programmatic clusters and prevents total chaos, even without the application of strict micro-rules.

150

NO ZONING, NO RULES

ACTIVE ZONING, NO RULES

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V. The Olympic Game

ACTIVE ZONING, RULES

Simulation 3: Rules in action The

third

simulation

phase

activates

the

complete rulebook of The Olympic Game. Here, we see the micro-scalar rules actively shaping the environment in real-time. For example, the ‘noise buffer’ rule actively prevents Workshop plots from spawning within a 20-meter radius of existing residential facades. The simulation proves that a strict set of simple rules can successfully guide organic, bottom-up growth into a safe, functioning, and highly structured urban layout, preventing the negative side-effects of unregulated sprawl.

152

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V. The Olympic Game

Measuring climate survival Running

the

simulator

across

the

entire

Olympic Village reveals the true power of this methodology. It does not just produce a visual layout; it generates crucial, real-time data. By tracking metrics like the reduction of paved surfaces, the increase in eco-permeability, and the exact number of newly planted trees, the simulator becomes a powerful validation tool. It demonstrates empirically that distributing land to the residents under the right rulebook doesn’t just solve individual spatial needs, it actively reverses the heat island effect and successfully transforms the massive concrete void into a thriving, climate-resilient neighborhood.

154

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5.11

SPATIAL REALITY

PRIVATE

PLOTS

PUBL

SIDEWALK

GREEN VERGE

156

PRIMARY LOGISTICAL ROADS As the heaviest tier of the public skeleton, this primary logistical axis is strictly reserved for essential heavy traffic, such as delivery trucks and emergency services. By concentrating this scale of infrastructure onto a single designated route, the rest of the village is freed from heavy vehicles. The cross-section shows a robust, highly functional public core bordered by soft green verges, ensuring a safe transition into the adjacent private plots.

LIC

PRIVATE

ROAD

PLOTS

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V. The Olympic Game

PRIVATE

PLOTS

GREEN VERGE

158

OTHER PRIMARY ROADS The standard primary roads form the main circulatory loop for everyday vehicular traffic and resident access. While still accommodating cars, the paved surface is minimized to reduce the urban heat island effect. Generous space is allocated to mature trees and wide sidewalks, creating a comfortable, shaded public corridor that gently buffers the private domains from the passing traffic.

PUBLIC

ROAD

PRIVATE

SIDEWALK

PLOTS

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V. The Olympic Game

PRIVATE

PLOTS

160

PUBL

PATH

AQUEDUC

AQUEDUCT ABOVE GROUND Where the ancient Hadrian’s Aqueduct surfaces, the public realm transforms into an ecological monument. The sterile concrete basins of the 2004 design are removed, allowing the historic waterway to become the natural centerpiece of a lush, unpaved pedestrian corridor. This zone acts as a cooling green spine for the neighborhood, providing a dramatic public space that flows directly between the privatized fields.

LIC

CT ZONE

PRIVATE

PATH

PLOTS

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V. The Olympic Game

PRIVATE

PLOTS

162

PATH

AQUEDU

AQUEDUCT UNDERGROUND Even when the physical Roman structure dips below the surface, its trajectory dictates the landscape above. Instead of hiding the tunnel under asphalt, the ground above the aqueduct is kept fully permeable and heavily planted, creating a continuous linear park. The subterranean heritage is honored by dedicating the surface level purely to community recreation, shading, and ecology.

UBLIC

UCT ZONE

PRIVATE

PATH

PLOTS

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V. The Olympic Game

164

PRIVATE

PUB

PLOTS

SECONDARY ROADS Operating on a much more intimate, human scale, the secondary roads serve as the quiet residential streets leading directly to the housing blocks. Vehicular traffic here is slow and strictly local. This drastically reduced infrastructural footprint allows the private plots to engage more closely with the street, turning the public pathway into a shared, safe zone for daily social interactions.

BLIC

PRIVATE

ATH

PLOTS

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V. The Olympic Game

166

PRIVATE

PUB

PLOTS

PAT

PATHS At the finest grain of the masterplan are the pedestrian paths. These narrow, unpaved trails weave through the grid, providing vital microconnections between the individual 10x10 plots. Acting as the capillaries of the neighborhood, they ensure complete walkability and permeability. Here, the physical boundary between public and private is at its softest, fostering a tight-knit, highly active community environment.

BLIC

PRIVATE

PLOTS

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V. The Olympic Game

168

RESIDENTIAL PROXIMITY The

extension

the

home

When plots are claimed immediately adjacent to the existing housing blocks, the urban fabric naturally

adopts

quieter,

intimate

character. Here, the rules of the game facilitate a seamless extension of the domestic sphere. The visualizations show residents cultivating private vegetable gardens, constructing small sheds, and creating shaded seating areas. This zone acts as a soft, green buffer that transitions smoothly from the privacy of the apartment to the broader public network, bringing human scale right to the doorstep.

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V. The Olympic Game

THE LOGISTICAL AXIS The

productive

corridor

The rules ensure that this lively,

Along the primary logistical axis, the dynamic of the

working heart of the village

village shifts entirely from domestic to productive.

can thrive without disrupting

Because this route safely accommodates heavier

the

traffic and delivery trucks, it becomes the ideal

zones, proving that a healthy

zone

neighborhood needs both rest

for

active,

noise-generating

functions.

Workshops, local production facilities, and larger community storage spaces naturally cluster here.

170

peaceful

and activity.

residential

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V. The Olympic Game

THE AQUEDUCT AXIS The

heritage

spine

Tracing the historic route of Hadrian’s Aqueduct, the privatized plots give way to a generous, shared ecological corridor. In this zone, the cooperative’s incentives for public amenities and climate action are highly visible. The ancient aqueduct is no longer a hidden relic or a sterile concrete display, but a deeply integrated, experiential landscape. Surrounded by mature trees, unpaved paths, and community pavilions, it functions as a lush, central urban park where residents come together.

172

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V. The Olympic Game

CONCLUSION (Before & After) A

village

without

finish

line

The stark contrast between the original 2004 masterplan and The Olympic Game highlights a fundamental shift in urban philosophy. The original design was a rigid, top-down blueprint created for a fleeting, two-week global event. It was built for a spectacle, not for daily life. The Olympic Game flips this paradigm. By handing the ‘Field of Play’ over to the community, the village transforms from a failed monument into a continuous, adaptable process. It abandons the idea of a finalized masterplan. Because the rules and the leases operate in cycles, the neighborhood has no fixed endpoint. As new generations arrive and community needs evolve, the residents will simply continue to play, adapt, and reshape their environment, finally claiming the Olympic Village as their own.

174

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VI. References

6.01 REFERENCES •

Bloor, S. (2020, September 23). Abandoned Athens Olympic 2004 venues, 10 years on – in pictures. The Guardian. https://www. theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2014/aug/13/abandoned-athens-olympic-2004-venues-10-years-on-in-pictures

•

Eleni, P. a. &. V. (2024, April 3). Heat risk index in Athens. ArcGIS StoryMaps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ b37837ed9b544bf3b2e881171626dedf

•

INTI - International New Town Institute - “Think and do tank for young cities.” (n.d.). https://www.newtowninstitute.org/

•

Municipality of Athens. (2026, January 22). Budget Department - Municipality of Athens. https://www.cityofathens.gr/en/ phonebook/budget-department/

•

Welcome. (n.d.). http://www.kaisersrot.com/Kaisersrot/Welcome.html

•

Yannis, G. (n.d.). The nightmare of traffic congestion has returned to the streets of Athens. George Yannis Blog. https://www. georgeyannis.com/the-nightmare-of-traffic-congestion-has-returned-to-the-streets-of-athens/

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