Uploaded on 2016-12-23 by Napoleon Papadakis

EXERCISE - QUESTION ALTERNATIVE 2 Habitats of a certain neighborhood don’t feel safe when they walk in their neighborhood in the evening and during the night. You are working for the local government and want to solve this problem through improvement of the public spaces. How would you start-up a Citizen Design Science project? ANSWER - CASE STUDY That is the case of an abandoned neighborhood in Athens, Greece where the Project “Syn-Oikia Pittaki” took place and manage to turn the spot into a homely public space. The project is an inspiring example of bottom-up urbanism that fights the negative atmosphere imposed by the economic crisis in the country. The project was created by the creative studio of street artists “Beforelight” and the non-profit organisation “Imagine the City”. The “Synoikia Pittaki” (Synoikia means neighborhood in Greek) project took place into the downtown area of “Psirri”, an area that has been radically influenced by the economic crisis and now faces problems of criminality and urban decay. As a result, many streets in the area like “Pittaki” street, are turning into dead public spaces. In order to liven up the street, the group decided to call citizens for action. People of Athens were invited (through social media etc.) and mobilized to donate their old lighting fixtures for the creation of the installation. The group gathered old lamps, repaired them during an open workshop and installed them as new lighting infrastructure in the street. The result was a luminous, colorful ceiling that not only created an interesting and appealing atmosphere, but also managed to bring people of the neighborhood together and bond them for a common purpose. The street and the Project have become a symbol for community power in Athens in the darkest times of crisis. Photos by Google Images