Hinterland of Aegina: towards a retrieval of the landscape

Proposal for a restructuration of the landscape _ July 2013

Self-initiated project _ Participation at the exhibition “Imagine the city:Aegina”

Strategy

We believe that the role of the landscape of the hinterland is crucial to Aegina functioning as a whole. The ecological infrastructure of the landscape offers a framework to creating green and blue flows. At the same time, energy infrastructure can be accommodated in order to gain a sufficiency as an island. The cultural landscape offers a spectrum of monuments to be reevaluated. This triple function of the landscape could be strategically combined through a network of interventions that create synergies. Nodes are introduced in order to create a network of actions. Revealing the hinterland of Aegina is a balancing strategy towards a sustainable and resilient development.

Challenge

The island of Aegina is characterized by development along the coastal front. The largest residential cores (city of Aegina, Souvala, Perdika, Agia Marina) are located at the seaside and during the summer months, they receive the touristic load. In contrast, the hinterland of Aegina remains unexplored and underdeveloped. Even though it has been for centuries inhabitated with respect to the landscape, in recent years it is ignored. The hinterland composes a landscape both self-sufficient and dynamic and closely connected to the coastal front. The role of the hinterland is crucial to the establishment of a global identity for the island of Aegina.