Children are discovering nature: A path and a center of environmental awareness in Seih Sou

The aim of this diploma thesis is to bring chidren who live in cities closer to nature and raise awareness of the problems and the protection of the environment. The young explorers, walk on an "imaginary" path, in the suburban forest of Thessaloniki, which ends up in an alternative shelter, where children follow collective and ecological lifestyre. Once we walked in Seih Sou, we chose a path that fulfilled the criteria of suitable distance and time factores, hiking difficulty for children, proper views, interesting site points, inspiring natural elements, special senses. Apart from the starting and end point, we created four more stops-points. Each stop remarks an environmental issue, adjusts to the existing lanscape features (existing equipment, nature, use, materials), while at the same time, serves the operational needs of each point. The educative path ends up at the center of environmental awareness (CEA). The basic design principle is the creation of semi-open spaces and shape-shifting constructions, in order the child to familiarize with the space and organize it freely. Towards a sustainable design, we aim to maintain and highlight the natural elements, and re-use the building reserve. The sixteen small houses are formed in neighborhoods with different uses (workshops of natural and recyclable materials, performing arts, food processing and two residential neighborhoods), while the main building accommodates mainly collective spaces. Our intention is to create a total experience, that raises social and ecological concerns for younger guests, and opens new perspectives of living, in a collective and friendly to the environment way.