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Description
Here you can see a Photoshop painting of a Neoclassical building that is toped by a mirror style skyscraper. Many questions probably start to form in your mind. Let me try to give you the answers!

If you're interested in supporting me you can buy me a coffee here

What is this building? This is a structure that existed on the Nikis (Victory) Avenue (was called Beyaz Kule Avenue during the Ottoman times of Thessaloniki , the second largest city of Greece). Sadly, it did not make it to the present (here is a Google Earth link of the location to see what exists now on the place).

Was it really like this? Well, first of all, no mirror skycraper existed on top of it. This was a creation of the 19th century after all. Also, it was not made out of marble, limestone and ceramics like you see on my illustration. Those were some additions of mine and I will explain the reasons behind them in the upcoming paragraphs.. Take some time to see how this building and its surroundings used to look like, by pressing on the following links carte postale 1 , carte postale 2 , photo 1 (low resolution) , photo 2 (high resolution) .
I hope you share my rage about what this city has now become after seeing all of this..

So, I decided to draw this structure by trying to figure out the dimensions and details from old photos and carte postales from the previous century. This was a tough experience since many things were difficult next to impossible to get from such limited resources. I had to improvise a lot to fill the gaps. But not all changes occurred due to the lack of information problem...

As said above, I am frustrated by what this city has become. Hundreds of beautiful historic buildings were destroyed through the years to make space for ugly dystopian post-war concrete boxes. So, for a long time, I've been thinking of an ideal way to change this.

When it comes to my approach to how our architecture should look, I'm best expressed by this quote: "Architecture begins where engineering ends" by Walter Gropius. This seems to be something that no modern-day architect is taking into consideration. Nowadays, buildings only have the absolutely necessary features to host people and nothing more. That's why they look like monotonous gray boxes with holes.
Well, in my opinion, this has to change. I want to see beautiful buildings being built again. Structures that people would like to take a moment to admire, take photos of, and talk about them with their friends. I also want those buildings to make a larger aesthetically pleasing entity when combined.

So, how could this happen in a city like Thessaloniki? Well, the blueprint for beautiful buildings already exists. All we have to do is figure out what the city used to look like during the 19th century and try to restore those looks. If you think such a plan is crazy, you are probably right. For this to become a reality, hundreds of buildings will have to be torn down to make place for the "new" ones. That is financially close to impossible... But, here, we are making an ideal plan, and on an ideal plan, we hold the money that is needed in our hands.
Here's something that will make you think this project may not be that impossible to happen. The city of Warsaw was similarly reconstructed to its glorious past (the circumstances were different in that case though):
During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, more than 85% of Warsaw's historic center was destroyed by the German troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign by its citizens resulted in today's meticulous restoration of the Old Town, with its churches, palaces, and marketplace. It is an outstanding example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century. [1]
So, we actually have a precedent!

Ok, so those previous thoughts can be our foundation. Now it is time to add complexities... You see, another problem that you will probably discover if you take a walk in Thessaloniki is the high level of variation. You have neoclassical, next to concrete post-war, glass-panelled, villas, and art nouveau buildings. Also, the infrastructure. You get different types of lampposts in every like block. The pavement materials change all the time. All of this, makes you think that you are in an exhibition, not in a city that has an identity. My solution to this? The new buildings should be constructed from the same types of materials to create a sense of uniformity (the variation in architecture between them should remain, since we don't want to create a depressing communist city where everything looks simplistic and similar, nor we want to create another Burj Al Babas ). Paris was a great reference for this tactic since they used the same materials for all their buildings to create a uniform, but not boring place that will help to highlight the monuments better. Also, the way they did this was interesting. They used materials that exist in abundance in the region. This probably made the construction cheaper, but also gave Paris a sense of identity. You will get glass towers everywhere, but those distinct colors of the Paris' buildings can only be found there...

So, what are our materials? Before searching for them, I had to come up with some principles. Those buildings should be covered in some kind of stone. This might be a more expensive way than just painting the walls, but it also lasts longer and it needs much less maintenance. Stone provides great insulation to prevent heat loss, and it can be easily cleaned from graffiti (also a great problem in Thessaloniki). Now let's find out! We need some white stone to make the gypsum details of those buildings. Luckily, there is a white marble quarry in the city of Drama (120 km from Thessaloniki). We need some kind of relatively cheap stone to cover the majority of the exterior of the structures. For this, we can go to the city of Veroia (61 km from Thessaloniki) which has some limestone stock, or to the city of Aridaia (82.5 km from Thessaloniki) which has a travertine stone abundancy. For the main part of the columns, we take inspiration from the Hagia Sophia temple interior (not the Istanbul one, Thessaloniki has a byzantine church named this way too!). The columns of it were made of Green Thessalian marble (Thessaly a region that is 161 km away from Thessaloniki). For some variation, we can use the white-with purple details marble from the city of Kozani (104 km). For small statues or any kind of complex tiny decoration, we can use clay (there are plenty of places that we can get it in the region, some even inside Thessaloniki). So there you have it! We have the complete list of materials for our buildings and they all come from the greater region of Thessaloniki (the farthest we will need to go, is 161 km from the city center). If we apply them with consistency, Thessaloniki will get a sense of identity like the one Paris has.

What about the mirror skyscraper though? This is an addition I had to come up with, to fix the space problem. You see, the population of the area is much higher now than it was 100-150 years ago and all those people need a roof above them to live or work. Adding a mirror vertical extension to those buildings was the best way I could come up with to solve this problem. Unlike the reconstructed originals, those glass crowns will reach the same height, so they will strengthen the sense of uniformity that I am trying to achieve. Also, the fact that they will function as mirrors and the thing that they will show is the sky and the sea that they are next to, will make them as neutral as possible.

What's next? Well, I think that this idea of mine has quite a creative potential and could evolve to become a greater project. Since I am a great procrastinator when faced with things like that, I will not give you any promises. I'll just say that I have many beautiful and crazy ideas regarding it and I want to see them being drawn...

[1] -> whc.unesco.org/en/list/30/

Description
Here you can see a Photoshop painting of a Neoclassical building that is toped by a mirror style skyscraper. Many questions probably start to form in your mind. Let me try to give you the answers!

If you're interested in supporting me you can buy me a coffee here

What is this building? This is a structure that existed on the Nikis (Victory) Avenue (was called Beyaz Kule Avenue during the Ottoman times of Thessaloniki , the second largest city of Greece). Sadly, it did not make it to the present (here is a Google Earth link of the location to see what exists now on the place).

Was it really like this? Well, first of all, no mirror skycraper existed on top of it. This was a creation of the 19th century after all. Also, it was not made out of marble, limestone and ceramics like you see on my illustration. Those were some additions of mine and I will explain the reasons behind them in the upcoming paragraphs.. Take some time to see how this building and its surroundings used to look like, by pressing on the following links carte postale 1 , carte postale 2 , photo 1 (low resolution) , photo 2 (high resolution) .
I hope you share my rage about what this city has now become after seeing all of this..

So, I decided to draw this structure by trying to figure out the dimensions and details from old photos and carte postales from the previous century. This was a tough experience since many things were difficult next to impossible to get from such limited resources. I had to improvise a lot to fill the gaps. But not all changes occurred due to the lack of information problem...

As said above, I am frustrated by what this city has become. Hundreds of beautiful historic buildings were destroyed through the years to make space for ugly dystopian post-war concrete boxes. So, for a long time, I've been thinking of an ideal way to change this.

When it comes to my approach to how our architecture should look, I'm best expressed by this quote: "Architecture begins where engineering ends" by Walter Gropius. This seems to be something that no modern-day architect is taking into consideration. Nowadays, buildings only have the absolutely necessary features to host people and nothing more. That's why they look like monotonous gray boxes with holes.
Well, in my opinion, this has to change. I want to see beautiful buildings being built again. Structures that people would like to take a moment to admire, take photos of, and talk about them with their friends. I also want those buildings to make a larger aesthetically pleasing entity when combined.

So, how could this happen in a city like Thessaloniki? Well, the blueprint for beautiful buildings already exists. All we have to do is figure out what the city used to look like during the 19th century and try to restore those looks. If you think such a plan is crazy, you are probably right. For this to become a reality, hundreds of buildings will have to be torn down to make place for the "new" ones. That is financially close to impossible... But, here, we are making an ideal plan, and on an ideal plan, we hold the money that is needed in our hands.
Here's something that will make you think this project may not be that impossible to happen. The city of Warsaw was similarly reconstructed to its glorious past (the circumstances were different in that case though):
During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, more than 85% of Warsaw's historic center was destroyed by the German troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign by its citizens resulted in today's meticulous restoration of the Old Town, with its churches, palaces, and marketplace. It is an outstanding example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century. [1]
So, we actually have a precedent!

Ok, so those previous thoughts can be our foundation. Now it is time to add complexities... You see, another problem that you will probably discover if you take a walk in Thessaloniki is the high level of variation. You have neoclassical, next to concrete post-war, glass-panelled, villas, and art nouveau buildings. Also, the infrastructure. You get different types of lampposts in every like block. The pavement materials change all the time. All of this, makes you think that you are in an exhibition, not in a city that has an identity. My solution to this? The new buildings should be constructed from the same types of materials to create a sense of uniformity (the variation in architecture between them should remain, since we don't want to create a depressing communist city where everything looks simplistic and similar, nor we want to create another Burj Al Babas ). Paris was a great reference for this tactic since they used the same materials for all their buildings to create a uniform, but not boring place that will help to highlight the monuments better. Also, the way they did this was interesting. They used materials that exist in abundance in the region. This probably made the construction cheaper, but also gave Paris a sense of identity. You will get glass towers everywhere, but those distinct colors of the Paris' buildings can only be found there...

So, what are our materials? Before searching for them, I had to come up with some principles. Those buildings should be covered in some kind of stone. This might be a more expensive way than just painting the walls, but it also lasts longer and it needs much less maintenance. Stone provides great insulation to prevent heat loss, and it can be easily cleaned from graffiti (also a great problem in Thessaloniki). Now let's find out! We need some white stone to make the gypsum details of those buildings. Luckily, there is a white marble quarry in the city of Drama (120 km from Thessaloniki). We need some kind of relatively cheap stone to cover the majority of the exterior of the structures. For this, we can go to the city of Veroia (61 km from Thessaloniki) which has some limestone stock, or to the city of Aridaia (82.5 km from Thessaloniki) which has a travertine stone abundancy. For the main part of the columns, we take inspiration from the Hagia Sophia temple interior (not the Istanbul one, Thessaloniki has a byzantine church named this way too!). The columns of it were made of Green Thessalian marble (Thessaly a region that is 161 km away from Thessaloniki). For some variation, we can use the white-with purple details marble from the city of Kozani (104 km). For small statues or any kind of complex tiny decoration, we can use clay (there are plenty of places that we can get it in the region, some even inside Thessaloniki). So there you have it! We have the complete list of materials for our buildings and they all come from the greater region of Thessaloniki (the farthest we will need to go, is 161 km from the city center). If we apply them with consistency, Thessaloniki will get a sense of identity like the one Paris has.

What about the mirror skyscraper though? This is an addition I had to come up with, to fix the space problem. You see, the population of the area is much higher now than it was 100-150 years ago and all those people need a roof above them to live or work. Adding a mirror vertical extension to those buildings was the best way I could come up with to solve this problem. Unlike the reconstructed originals, those glass crowns will reach the same height, so they will strengthen the sense of uniformity that I am trying to achieve. Also, the fact that they will function as mirrors and the thing that they will show is the sky and the sea that they are next to, will make them as neutral as possible.

What's next? Well, I think that this idea of mine has quite a creative potential and could evolve to become a greater project. Since I am a great procrastinator when faced with things like that, I will not give you any promises. I'll just say that I have many beautiful and crazy ideas regarding it and I want to see them being drawn...

[1] -> whc.unesco.org/en/list/30/