‘‘Is it not against all logic when the
upper surface of a whole town remains
unused and reserved exclusively for a
dialogue between the roof tiles and the
stars?!’’ Le Corbusier, 1923
It is this thought of Le Corbusier, which
during the Modern movement, was officially
expressed in the declaration of the flat
roof’s habitation. The view of the building’s
flat ending, as a new ground and a possible
container of human activities and functions,
was the beginning of our concerns around this
research.
Our main field of study is Athens, a city where
the flat roofs of the countless apartment
buildings (the “polykatoikias”) are still
strange and uninhabited. An awkward
and unfamiliar world, but able -if properly
designed, due to its ideal position in relation
to the area “below” and “around”-, to be redefined
as a new, potential ground of actions
and to spark interesting relationships with the
vibrant level of the city.