Proposal for the revival of the Etia settlement

The present thesis attemps a series of interventions in the abandoned Venetian settlement of Etia, in the Prefecture of Lassithi, Crete, aiming at its activation. Initially, the public space of the settlement is organized with the corresponding urban configurations. A network of movements and stops is created that runs throughout the settlement. This network restores access to the abandoned churches and connects the individual points of interest. In addition, a proposal is planned to restore the existing buildings in the settlement so that the majority of them can be used for residential purposes. Furthermore, in the ruined part of the settlement, where there is an urban discontinuity between the compact residential islands and the de Metzo vila, it is proposed to integrate agricultural workshops and new housing, which will also restore this link. In particular, the workshop are of a collective nature and standarization uses. Our aim was to provide the settlement with a usable space that will encourage collective action and reinforce the rural identity of the settlement. This particular use was chosen because of the increased production of herbs on the plateau in recent years by new producers and the lack of similar structures in the area. As for the new dwellings, a typology with bioclimatic characteristics is designed, which can be repeated serially and with variations in the future expansion of the settlement. In order to achieve a better integration of the new buildings into the settlement’s fabric, a vocabulary of compositional tools was compiled from patterns, spatial relationships of intermediate spaces and proportions observed in the existing building.

Author: Danae Geiton, Parthenopi Seisaki