The Schematic Design studies of the project “Eco_corridors” is the evolution process of the 1st prize won by topio7 architects-landscape architects firm at the competition of: “Regeneration and Reuse of former lignite mines in the Western Macedonia region” that was launched by the Public Power Corporation of Greece in 2015. These Schematic Design studies are required for the complete provision of services in order for the project to proceed to the next stage of the Final-Detailed design.
The Schematic Design studies focus on the evolution of strategies for the re-design of a 188ha area of a former abandoned lignite mine. The subject of Schematic Design includes the following studies:
1. Architecture and Landscape Architecture Design
2. Hydraulic and Hydrological Study
3. Study of electronic infrastructure and structures,
and it is accompanied by Forestry Consultant, Biologist – Landscape Biologist and Road Transport Engineer.
The “Eco_corridors” project idea rethinks this post-industrial landscape as a new uses’ area in order to become a public pole through its environmental, economic and social transformation. It is a cultural landscape of memory thus the proposal aims also to maintain its unique genius loci. The concept derives from the longitudinal site’s shape that could function as an ecological corridor. The need for environmental enrichment and biodiversity has led to a system of fluxes that organizes spatial relationships and connects habitats. The resulting landscape is being crossed by a series of ecological itineraries – the ‘eco_corridors’ with different characters, qualities and uses: cultural uses, sport – leisure facilities that offer economic benefits. The main aim of the project is to maintain the special atmosphere of the place, by unifying and integrating through scales. The project acts as a strategy that is being expressed in three thematic axes: (i) biodiversity-ecological connectivity (ii) water net management (iii) evolution through time (iv) spatial organization of movements and rest areas, v) new uses on local and supralocal character (cultural uses, sports facilities, cultivations, and leisure). The development of the project is of a wider environmental, economic, aesthetic and social importance, aiming for the Just transition of the region and 21st-century societies to the post-lignite era.
