Haris Biskos

DOMa Summer School 2024: Overcoming Overtourism

DOMa Summer School 2024 took place from July 10–17 at the former Xenia Hotel in Andritsaina, Greece. Led by the Milan-based architecture studio Piovenefabi and supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture, this year’s program focused on the urgent topic of tourism and overtourism. Ahead of the summer school, a lecture event titled "Overcoming Overtourism" was held in Athens, featuring professors from all Greek schools of architecture. The invited speakers approached the phenomenon from diverse perspectives—ranging from degrowth strategies and legislative frameworks to personal memories and early models of mass tourism—providing a stimulating framework that complemented the themes explored during the week in Andritsaina. Grounded in this broader discourse and in the specificity of the local context, approximately 40 architecture students from across the globe participated in the one-week, site-specific design program. The participants worked closely with the local community of Andritsaina, developing a series of public installations that responded directly to the town’s unique social and spatial identity. This process foregrounded architecture’s potential to address the challenges of overtourism while reactivating the historic Xenia building—one of the few remaining intact examples of Greece’s 1950s state-driven tourism program—as a platform for experimentation and engagement. The workshop concluded with a public presentation in Andritsaina, where residents, students, and faculty reflected together on the future of tourism and architectural responsibility.
The DOMa Summer School continues to investigate the intersection of place, architecture, and contemporary socio-political dynamics through immersive, research-led design.