THE ARCHITECTURE OF POWER_THE CONVERSION OF A FORMER POWER PLANT INTO FILM STUDIOS

The diploma design thesis deals with the conversion and re-design of a former power station of PPC in the lignite basin of Ptolemaida into world-class film studios, unique in Greece and worldwide, because of the extraodrinary landscape of lignite mines and facilities to be offered for film productions.

The Ptolemais Thermal Power Station created in 1954 was the first station of electrisity nationwide. The operation was discontinued in 2014, after a fire, leaving behind an idustrial ruin, and at the same time an insdustrial monument to the heritage of Greece. The importance, foot-print, features and typology of this building and its landscape were the inspiration for the conversion of a power factory into a film "factory", assigning new meaning to it, reinforcing historical memory, contributing to the restoration of the environment and adding this complex to the achitectural map of Greece.

The proposal maintains the concept of a dipole and is characterized by the creation of conceptual, programmatic and design contrasts, whishing to reverse the situation of abandonment. Thus, in a purely industrial and orthocanonical environment, nature is introduced with a new script that draws its inspiration and combines the linearity of the landscape with strong shapes which the station gradually added to it. 

The land and the building receive the new use, while functioning as exhibits of themselves. Nature is introduced in a tight grid and industrial environment, creating new landscapes both inside and outside of the building. Along with the addition, a winter garden on the rooftop, this unique combinaion of natural and built elements transforms the power station into a new landmark of the surrounding scape.