Ode to Lithaios

Ode to Lithaios deals with the construction of a Conservatoire in Trikala city which functions as a musical capacitor, a castle of music, where life acquires an outdoor and semi-outdoor character, adopting the traditional way of living in the place. The composition of the Odeon glorifies the river-source of life for the city, so it is an ode to the River.

Placed on the banks of the Lithaios River, the two opposing plots are connected both physically and metaphysically by the pedestrian bridge, a connecting nerve in space and time. Archetypal structures, crystallized geometries and fortress terminology exist in this building complex. The Odeon is formed as a “poleoid formation” (Mpiris T.) where different types of cells in multiple scales are combined to create a multicellular organism for social coexistence. On the area of the main Conservatoire, which is more strongly related to the urban fabric, an enclosed building-atrium structure is created with elements of extroversion and indirect or direct references to the city, the river and tradition. The atrium-agora archetype transforms the inner void into a necessary living space. Strong walls are built as structures expressing the hidden potential of the place, forming a Yin-Yang around the atrium, a juxtaposition between the two spatial geometries of the city and the river. The harmonious whole is created using soft and hard boundaries according to the needs of the habitation resulting in the unity of the opposites. The bridge enlivens the core of the Conservatoire, interrupts the two opposing gestures of the walls of the composition, crosses the heart of the atrium-agora laterally to end up forming the earthen hill, a rampart that receives the strong polygonal lines of the atrium and protects the internality of the Conservatoire. ?n the area which is close to the Castle and the verdant Fortress Hill, an open-air, landscape composition is proposed. The bridge crosses the site, forming a ramp with two connection points, one at the pedestrian level and another later at river level. Parallel to the bridge an outdoor amphitheater facing the river is created. The musical events acquire an existential depth, as they merge with the poetic image of the river and the water. This architectural synthesis is not complete just with the description of the final result. The compositional process is also traced, where the sense of the place is transcribed into building necessity and the idea is transformed into matter.