Kypseli Market Place-Making Model
Years: 2015-2018 | Status: Completed | Partners: City of Athens, Vice Mayor Office for Civil Society and Innovation, synAthina platform, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Athens Partnership | Team: Amalia Zepou (Vice Mayor), Haris Biskos (Project Manager, Urbanist in Charge), Martha Giannakopoulou (Curator of Workshops), Katerina Apostolopoulou (Communication Lead), Irini Georgalaki (Community Liaison), Erifili Giannakopoulou (Community Liaison), Natassa Pappa (Graphic Design) | Funding: City of Athens, Bloomberg Philanthropies
Kypseli Market has been an emblematic public building in one of the densest populated neighborhoods of Athens with a long history of transformations. It was built during the 1930’s as part of a larger master-plan to distribute smaller local public markets around the historic center of Athens helping peripheral communities to form collective spaces based on the everyday activities of commerce. For around 60 years the market performed as a point of reference for the neighborhood and the local community of Kypseli. By the mid-90's a new shopping culture emerged in Athens with large super-markets and small-to-medium size malls creating pressure on the local vendors and traditional greek businesses. The market was affected by this new trend and lost its attractiveness as a community space with many of its shops closing down. New development plans emerged by the city’s administration and the decision of its demolition was avoided by active citizens and residents of the area who reclaimed the building and formed a small squat that retained the space active. The next elected Mayor introduced an ambitious plan to renovate the historical building and create a management model that would ensure the financial and social viability of the space.
The scope of the project was to create a place-making model that would give life back to the newly renovated building creating a platform to facilitate the activity of young entrepreneurs, creative networks, community groups and municipal services into a common space encouraging experimentation, exchange and dissemination of ideas through open processes and actions.
An open public consultation inviting citizens to engage with ideas and visions, a feasibility study based on the results of the consultation, an open call in 2 phases that invited collectives of Athens to submit their proposals to run the space and the organisation of open collaborative workshops with local networks so to facilitate the smooth opening of the market and support the efforts of the new place manager.
