Athens on sea - View - Faleron Group of architects and planners come up with a plan involving Athens and the sea - Brief Article

Architectural Review, The, Jan, 2003

Faleron Bay was traditionally the principal opening of the Athens plain to the sea, where the city's first harbour was located before Piraeus was developed to the west. In about 1870, the first train from Athens to Piraeus was built, starting a process of industrialization and development that led to today's polluted, scarcely planned mess.

Now, a new plan has been evolved by the Faleron Group of architects and planners including Alan Stanton, Reichlin & Robert and SOM (the latter advising on sports facilities). The plan's main aims are to restore the relationship of the city to the sea, and to create an essential pole for the Olympic Games in 2004 (the bay area was used in the first modern Games in 1896). The present elevated motorway will be moved back some 100m from the seafront and remade at ground level, allowing a linear park to be created along the waterfront. Most of the sports facilities will be permanent and used by the community after the Games. Other improvements will include a bird sanctuary, a major new open space (the old racetrack) for the local densely populated neighbourhoods, and better transport arrangements (including a new tramway service).