GIUSEPPE's statements about SKYRTHALIA project and his "construction workshop" report

Giuseppe Guerra, ESAI EN ROI Volunteer; Candidate Youth Worker

ESC volunteering in teams SKYRTHALIA project December 2024

2024-1-EL02-ESC51-VTJ-000200188

My name is Giuseppe Guerra, and I’m an Italian doctor in architectural science. I participated in the Skyrthalia project in Thessaloniki. Over the last few weeks, I collaborated with Esai En Roi and my colleague, Vittoria Francesca Gulino, also a doctor in architectural science, to design and engineer a small architectural structure to be built by volunteers during a 3-day construction workshop led by us at the end of the project.

The goal of the workshop was to create a new space in the form of a small pavilion, serving as a valuable addition to the park and encouraging its use.

Our work began with an inspection of the site, a paved, pentagon-shaped area in Karatasiou Park— a former military base near Esai En Roi's office with the potential to become an important green space for the city.

Following this, we identified the materials best suited for the project and selected laminated wood for the structure and shading devices, and pallet wood for the seating elements. The construction system we chose involved arranging 4-meter beams in an interlocking, self-sustaining design to ensure the entire space beneath remained unobstructed. The seating elements, fixed to the pillars and weighed down with sandbags, served as above-ground foundations, as we opted not to use conventional reinforced concrete foundations. Throughout the design and engineering phase, we prioritized simplicity, keeping in mind that the pavilion would be built by volunteers with little to no construction experience.

This approach not only made the process more intuitive but also facilitated easier disassembly if needed. We presented the project to several municipal officials from different districts of Thessaloniki, consistently receiving positive feedback.

This encouraged us to explore alternative designs for other contexts. Unfortunately, I had to step away from the project continuing the last 7 days virtually, because of a high priority urgency that suddenly arose.

The initial (Karatasou Park) design has been reformed and readjusted for another region near to Thessaloniki Port (B community of Thessaloniki Municipality; suggestion issued by Mrs. Natasa Karra, policy maker (local politician)