Did you know that at one time in Athens there were various outdoor public swimming pools? Did you know which part of Kolonaki was an Operations’ Center during a very tumultuous time in Greek history? Which cafes did the most important Greek poets and writers of the early 20th century haunt and where do we find their traces now? The answers to all those questions and much more is revealed in the audio walk «RESERVOIR», which we created for Arch Points 2017 – Pixels: small scale public spaces. Having in the past exhausted, with endless discussions, the subject of the disfunctionality and depreciation of public space in Greek cities, MoY studio decided to get to the root of the problem, education. Our attention shifted from space to the user. We aimed to open his/her eyes to the multiple stimuli emitted by public space. How could this be done with an outcome both sensual and communicative? The final form, the audio walk, emerged as a mixture of elements from guided tours, navigation instructions, historical research and personal confessions. A recorded voice tries on the one hand to seduce and on the other to give directions and guide auditors (with headphones) through a short walk, starting at 25 Fokylidou street, going up to Dexameni square and ending at Haritos street, in Kolonaki. While walking, obscure yet exciting narratives, testimonials, private thoughts and sounds are revealed, relating to the public space along the walk. The audio walk prototype can be used further as an original education tool to discover our city with its stories and secrets, because even though we traverse it everyday, we hardly seem to know it. Here’s a small taste of it!

We would particularly like to thank our collaborators (narrators and sound experts) who helped us turn this idea into a reality.

The references below were a great source of inspiration for this audio walk:

Richard Sennett : “The Conscience of the Eye” (reading)

Janet Cardiff : “ The missing voice” (audio)

Patrick Keiller: “London” (documentary)

Interesting links:

Janet Cardiff

https://www.artangel.org.uk/project/the-missing-voice-case-study-b/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOkQE7m31Pw&t=68s

Patrick Keiller / London

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5LyqRd6NLc

Vlassis Kaniaris

https://parallhlografos.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/βλάσης-κανιάρης-1928-2011-κάνοντας-τέχνη-με-τ/