Hellenikon Metropolitan Park

Hellenikon Metropolitan Park as it has been named, will be a large urban park located in Hellinikon, Athens, Greece. The park will provide Athens with a much needed ecological boost.[1] When finished the park will be the largest in Europe.[1]

It will be approximately 200 hectares spanning the site of the former Hellenikon International Airport.[2] Construction had been scheduled to begin in 2008 and be completed by 2013,[3] but plans appear to have been indefinitely shelved in the midst of the financial crisis, and as the government contemplates other uses for the space; plans have been put forward and a preliminary agreement has been signed to sell some of the land to Qatari investors for development.[4]

The Site

The site of the future Hellenikon Metropolitan Park is the former Athens International Airport at Hellenikon.

The Park

In 2005, the international team led by architects David Serero, Elena Fernandez and landscape architect Philippe Coignet won the international competition to design a metropolitan park on the former site of the Hellenikon Airport, over more than 300 teams of architects.

The competition was sponsored by UIA (International Union of Architects), the Greek Ministry of Environment and the Organization for the Planning and Environmental Protection of Athens (ORSA). The project was further developed in 2006 and 2007 by this team trough two development phases with the planning organizations of Athens.

Serero’s team developed a strategy to landscape and urbanize the 530 hectares of the Hellenikon site by using natural running water patterns on the site as a concept to design the largest sustainable park in Europe. The water used by the park is effectively originating up to 80% of water collected naturally on the site. The project is structured by seven North-South green valleys that are called “Softscapes”. The “Softscapes” are irrigated corridors that channel and collect rainwater of the site and from the water catchment basin of the surrounding hills. These strips integrate a playful work on artificial topography that both guides the water and create terraces and slopes for the park activities and programs. There will also be some MTB downhill tracks, like the ones on Imittos mountain.

The park will be 400 hectares, while another 100 hectares will be used for housing and office facilities.[1] When finished, it will surpass London's Hyde Park (250 hectares)as well as New York's Central Park (350 hectares).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "High Hopes for park at Hellenikon". Kathimerini. www.ekathimerini.com. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  2. ↑ The Hellenic Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works – Hellenikon Metropolitan Park Archived 2005-11-24 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ 'Metropolitan Park' in southern Athens
  4. ↑ "Various plans for Hellenikon". To Vima (in Greek). www.tovima.gr. 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2011-03-29.

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