Ayia Fyla - historical center
Competition Phase
Preliminary Phase 1
DESIGN PROCESS Phase 2
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Architectural competition for “the development of the historical center of Ayia Fyla” in Limassol
Status: competition awarded 1st prize and implementation study
Principle Architects: Sokratis Stratis & Maria Hadjisoteriou
Main Collaborators: Riccardo Urbano
External collaborators: Alessandra Swiny
Location: Ayia Fyla, Limassol, Cyprus
Date: 2006 competition award, 2009-11 1st phase study , 2018 - implementation
Client: Limassol municipality, Planning and Housing Department
This project got awarded the 1st prize in 2006. We were commissioned by the municipality to develop ideas for the overall area of the old centre of Ayia Fyla. The Project is currently under development with the city hall of Limassol.
The aim of the project is the reinforcement of the traditional core as a metropolitan centrality within the broader area of Limassol, thus strengthening the existing character of the settlement by introducing new programmes and facilities to attract diverse user groups.
The historical centre as a whole is perceived as the main public space of the settlement. The creation of a network of public spaces in a micro scale within it, allows the old core of Ayia Fyla to act as a centre in its totality. The insertion of new activities and the attraction of new inhabitants, either for working or living, will keep the area constantly alive and up to date with its epoch.
Strategies that have been adopted for this aim are:
Re-claiming of public space from the dominance of the car by introducing diversions and restrictions on flows of vehicles, and facilitating public activities (performances, gardening, markets etc.)
Re-defining the threshold between private houses and roads, by reshaping the entrances, designing prefabricated concrete stairs and ramps, vertical panels for the protection of privacy and recovering of the continuous surface of the façade, small lightweight structures for jasmine plants for shading, etc. The threshold hosts the ending of the public networks which serve the private space.