Jacquard's Loom
Jaquard's loom is a proposition for the revitalization of a decomisioned textile factory on an entire city block. The old factory is transformed to host workshops that produce (upstairs) and sell their products (downstairs). The workshops are supported by an incubating hub, more retail spaces, food and beverage venues, a wellness center, an exhibition area and a small theatre. 'Jaquard's Loom' is the winning entry for an invited competion designed in cooperation with Andreadis and Associates and Natalia Efraimoglou and Associates.
LOCATION Nea Ionia, Athens
YEAR 2014
STATUS Competition, On Hold
PROGRAM Mixed Use
TEAM Chrysanthi Aproulopoulou, Tassos Govatsos, Alison Katri, Yannis Kitanis,
Carlos Loperena, Maria Pappa, Antonis Porias, Yannis Siopidis, Alexandros Vaitsos
COLLABORATORS Giorogos Andreadis & Partners, Natalia Efraimoglou & Partners
SATURATED DENSITY: 1927-1970
“The last slide ‘1970’ should last around twice as much. Add an ‘empty slide of the lot before 1927”
MOTHERBOARD: Ground floor machinery plan (1980)
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In 1927, the Τρία Αλφα factory began as a single storey building located in the corner of a city block of Nea Ionia. The factory expanded in order to accommodate growing requirements for production lines and in 1970 it had covered 96% of the city block. By the 80's nearly the entire block was occupied and the plan of the ground level resembled a computer motherboard.
BOOLEAN OPERATIONS
“We should determine a standard for the text. Let’s use the same here and in Appolonio. We should try a few options for both”
In 50 years the city block densified to the point of exhaustion. This gradual ininhibited densification included designed and informal structures. It is a typical process for the urban development Athens that is recognisable in a large percentage of the city blocks. Through this process many Athenian blocks have become too dense, squeezing the quality and the joy of life out of the common realm. This design proposition grabs the oportunity to show the potential of reversing this trend. It de-densifies by performing two subtractive boolean operations on the volume of the old factory. These subtractive operations create two interconnected civic spaces within the city block: The Arcade and the Plaza.
THE ARCADE
The arcade generously extends the pave-walk, bluring the limits between the public and the private realm. People are invited to stroll into the shade, to step up above the level of the moving cars and to slip deeper into the city block, attracted by spaces and the activity within. The Arcade leads into a large open market that lies under the building. Wooden storage units from the factory are adapted and reused by producers and artisans.
THE PLAZA
The center of the city block is hollow. It is a plaza, a place for people to gather, protected from the noise of the city and the cars. It can easily be transformed to host concerts, performances or events. Restaurants use it for their exterior tables and stores take advantage of the visibility that it provides. The most prominent element in the Plaza is the Chimney. It is the only architectural element of the factory that is currently listed as an architectural monument. It is the tallest structure of the area. It will act as a civic beacon, guiding people to approach it from the metro station and the broader neighborhood. The materiality of the Chimney spreads out into the Plaza in concentric circles creating the new unified ground floor of the complex.
JAQUARD PUNCH CARDS
The proposal for the new shell that surounds the workshops upstairs is inspired by the replacable punch cards, invented in 1801 by Joseph Marie Jacquard (a weaver and mearchant), to program sequences of mechanical operations in mechanical looms. Jaquard's Cards are considered an important benchmark for the industrial age. They are also considered a forerunner of the information age since they are one of the first form manifestations of binary programming.
JAQUARD'S FACADE
The First floor of the hosts versatile open-plan workshop areas for creative production in synergies. The shell that surrounds the workshops are punched with holes that allow light in. The workshops are subltly divided at will with lightweight colorful structures made from the plenitude of color tubes that are currently available in the factory.
THE ROOFSCAPE
The entire roofscape has been conceived as a playground for all ages. The top level is for teenagers and young adults. Its center piece is the sculptural skateboard ramp surrounded by short shrubs. The Northern edge of the skateboard ramp becomes a small set of bleachers for hanging out and enjoying the view of the nearby hills. One of the old cylindrical fuel tanks of the factory is transformed into a small canteen and is repositioned next to the skateboard ramp.
THE MODEL
“Time lapse of reconstruction of model should be photographed and instered”
During the design of the concept for the competition we constructed a physical model in order to explore the proposistion at a scale of 1:100. The model covers and area of 180x200 cm and is built as a kit of parts.