Redevelopment of Plateia Emporiou square
Urban design Competition
Project title: Flows   Site area: 2500m2   Location: Serres, Greece   Design date: January-February 2015
Client: The Municipality   Architect: Katerina Petsiou

The wider area of ''Plateia Emporiou'' square has been lying without a clear identity since the demolition of the public market which used to be there. The project aims to redefine the square's central function in the city, proposing a new sustainable public space which encourages citizen interaction.
The new public space takes form after the main flows of people in the existing square. The ground unfolds in the space left out from the people's main flows, in order to create pockets of vegetation.
Lines fold smoothly around the existing buildings' borders, unifying the north and the south part of the square in a clear whole. Paths and sitting areas unfold, creating a vivid urban space, where the citizens interact either physically or even digitally through the new facilities and IT applications specially designed for the municipality.
Project's sustainability layers.
Ecological materials for the floors facilitate rain water drainage and cool off in the summer.
Green pockets and trees keep the temperatures low during the summer months, preserve the urban ecosystem while the water features in both sides of the square act as acoustic barriers, creating a pleasant cityscape. New uses and IT facilities encourage citizen interaction ensuring a vivid urban core.