## ***The analysis part presents the research as a link and continuation of the theoretical concepts and findings. The logic of extraction and its consequences are analyzed in detail in order to set up a position for the design interventions both on large and small scales for the region of the Ptolemaida mine.***

## Extraction

Lignite extraction relies on the logic of reallocation. It involves the processes of excavation, transport, and distribution. During its operation, it reshuffles various layers of soil from vertical order to horizontal arrangement of the overburden. Sediment that can be used as fuel is approximately 27% of what is being excavated. To provide enough fuel for the combustion, the Ptolemaida mine operates on 3 shifts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2Fa89fe822-6f69-499b-9cf2-a844967390a0.jpg?alt=media&token=7a826937-772b-456a-8f63-d5b050a91262","id":"a89fe822-6f69-499b-9cf2-a844967390a0","width":3509,"height":2481,"filename":"(image 1 - operational logic of lignite extraction).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Operational logic of lignite extraction","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2Fa19a476a-f60f-4d5f-887a-a3b06189594d.jpg?alt=media&token=340bb8eb-c8d8-4419-8ef4-9ae067821fea","id":"a19a476a-f60f-4d5f-887a-a3b06189594d","width":4726,"height":709,"filename":"(image 2 – ground-to-ground journey of coal).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Ground-to-ground journey of coal ","border":false}]}
```

## Expansion and displacement

Throughout 66 years, the industry has occupied an area of over 17,000 ha, changing the landscape of the Ptolemais Basin. The hinterland became the size of a large urban agglomeration. The mining operations extracted over 8.5 billion cubic metres of rocks and produced more than 1.7 billion tons of lignite. Extraction and landfilling create a crawling void, slowly taking over the land.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2F18dfba51-ad78-4a89-a730-872ce1e25348.jpg?alt=media&token=93909293-a1b0-449c-bea1-8d7692d0427b","id":"18dfba51-ad78-4a89-a730-872ce1e25348","width":2482,"height":2482,"filename":"(image 3 – The land expropriation of Ptolamaida mine. Comparison with the city of Thessaloniki).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":" The land expropriation of Ptolamaida mine. Comparison with the city of Thessaloniki","border":true}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2F3dbc9568-e8dd-40fd-be51-56913d470931.jpg?alt=media&token=304f1f6a-bebf-45ff-af3d-86374d4f55d5","id":"3dbc9568-e8dd-40fd-be51-56913d470931","width":2481,"height":2482,"filename":"(image 5 – Volumetry of total material excavated as a cube - 8.48km3).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Volumetry of lignite excavated as a cube - 2.33km3","border":true}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2Fb76a552a-082b-4857-8ce7-e1db6800686c.jpg?alt=media&token=64929336-e0e7-430d-a845-18a7e7694673","id":"b76a552a-082b-4857-8ce7-e1db6800686c","width":2482,"height":2482,"filename":"(image 4 – Volumetry of lignite excavated as a cube - 2.33km3).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Volumetry of total material excavated as a cube - 8.48km3","border":true}]}
```

The city / non-city relation hollows out social and cultural factors.  Due to sprawling mining operations, PPC, the company responsible for energy production, has been relocating villages sitting on the deposits. With the first operation in the period of 1972-1976 till today, the company has internally displaced over 5800 inhabitants of six villages, with the next two waiting for relocation. Slowly absorbing lands of agriculture and living, mining activities are displacing large communities to new locations. Descendants of victims of population exchange from the 1920s are forced to share a similar fate. The impact of extraction leaves no opportunities for residents not willing to leave their homes, who are being deprived of the electricity and water supply.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2F2c117028-40d4-4443-966f-6119c42c48dd.jpg?alt=media&token=e48a4f9d-53ed-4e7c-99f4-42fed94692dd","id":"2c117028-40d4-4443-966f-6119c42c48dd","width":2481,"height":2482,"filename":"(image 6 – Territorial expansion - communities displacement due to sprawling mining operations.).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Territorial expansion - communities displacement due to sprawling mining operations","border":true}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2F6294d124-13d0-4753-9fd3-992f92122cea.jpg?alt=media&token=cceb4f9f-ae92-4128-879f-511a11b7f84b","id":"6294d124-13d0-4753-9fd3-992f92122cea","width":3475,"height":1532,"filename":"(image 7 –The disappearance of Mavropigi village due to mining activities.).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"The disappearance of Mavropigi village due to mining activities","border":false}]}
```

## The point of exhaustion

The closure of mining activities does not stop the consequences. The exploitation of the land has numerous environmental impacts, including modification of morphology, topsoil removal, fly ash production, radiations, surface run-offs, water contaminations, and concentration of toxic substances in soil and water.[\[1\]](#_ftn1) As a consequence, the region suffers from changes in hydrological patterns, loss of wild animal habitat, water pollution, air pollution, irrigation problems, aquatic life disturbance, and general life quality degradation.[\[2\]](#_ftn2) The most significant effect is related to the combustion processes of lignite, heavily polluting the air and contributing to the greenhouse effect, as well as rising cancer cases in the region by 16 per cent since 1950.[\[3\]](#_ftn3)

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2F0b19cbfb-c0b2-4784-8021-fe80b895eef3.jpg?alt=media&token=105172a8-2555-4e7c-a3d3-cab1158572a3","id":"0b19cbfb-c0b2-4784-8021-fe80b895eef3","width":1799,"height":1902,"filename":"(image 8 – The concentration of heavy metals in soil samples from Ptolemaida.).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"The concentration of heavy metals in soil samples from Ptolemaida","border":false}]}
```

Mining activities left the land scarred. Many villages are under the threat of landslides. Several of them already happened in the past. The biggest one, in Anargyri, moved 80 million cubic meters of soil, leaving the neighbouring village unsafe and dangerous and, therefore, displaced. The aquifer that influences the mine and is exploited by the pumping wells is in the Neogene and Quaternary sediments and lies above the lignite layer. The water-bearing formations, which affect the mine works, are the permeable sands and sandy layers of the yellow and green-grey series. In a simplified approach, they form two independent aquifers separated by clayey and marly material. However, on a large scale (in the scale of the whole basin), they are connected hydraulically due to faults bringing in contact with the permeable layers or due to diminishing the thickness of the impermeable layers. In order to extract lignite, the waterbed in Ptolemais is lowered. Extensive pumping takes place; approximately 8-10\*106 m3/y are drained out for the dewatering of the open pit. Water from the sumps is also pumped out of the mine (6- 8\*106 m3/y) and is discharged to the Soulou stream or used for covering irrigational needs. In total, 43835 m3/day of water is pumped out of the mine, which is the equivalent of 17,5 Olympic swimming pools. This changes the hydrological pattern of the region.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2F9857f50b-00ac-4c94-aaae-c3dd79f9979e.jpg?alt=media&token=07282578-7d4d-4e1b-b533-4bf4a8cd85b9","id":"9857f50b-00ac-4c94-aaae-c3dd79f9979e","width":1775,"height":999,"filename":"(image 9 – Landslide in Anargyri)2.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Landslide in Anargyri","border":false}]}
```

After the mine closure, water will no longer need to be pumped. This will result in the waterbed reaching its original level, flooding parts of the mine. The raising of the groundwater table poses a threat to the region of the Ptolemais Basin. Contaminated with heavy metals, landfilling zones will be flooded after the mine closure. Due to the lack of sufficient impermeable layer, this may result in polluting large underwater aquifers, affecting the surrounding region.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2Fec16cb34-b5ba-49ae-b3ab-5f8a2b985710.jpg?alt=media&token=9126d5e5-8599-4f79-8c85-bda7e327dcda","id":"ec16cb34-b5ba-49ae-b3ab-5f8a2b985710","width":3098,"height":2213,"filename":"(image 10 - ground and water condition)2.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"ground and water condition. the risk of pollution of the underground aquifer with contaminated soil of the Ptolemais mine","border":false}]}
```

## Hinterland in transition

**To answer the question “what after?” the project embraces the process of the transition, by embracing the temporal processes that naturally affect both the environment, as well as the architectural interventions. The goal of the project became a preparation for the continuous, dynamic evolution, which is capable of continuous adaptation. Therefore, the design focuses on identifying points of intensification, how the necessary steps could be integrated into existing conditions, and what change would bring over a long time.**

**Hinterlands should remain in a state of flux but in a more balanced, and less profit-oriented manner.**

**Hinterland in transition looks into critical steps to prevent it from continuous decay and decline. The landscape remains the landscape of production, but it needs to reinvent itself into a collective system of public works that supports the economy, being a polyfunctional infrastructure. This approach has the intention to transform a mono-functional industrial structure into a multi-layered, urban-ecological system, and integrate waste, water, transport, food, and energy.**

**Proposed interventions highlight certain aspects, their influence is acupunctural, highlighting certain moments as points of intensification. By doing this the project touches a particular place at a specific moment, becoming a point of ignition. However, this is the first step. In contrast to the paradigm of the speed of technological acceleration, the effects of future transformation will be slow and subtle, requiring the active and sustained engagement of long-term partnerships between the inhabitants, and public sectors, with much greater attention to various visible and non-visible layers.**

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2F08oiKN39VkGwRW4PbqGh%2F059899e7-18a4-4827-b0ae-425948a49dfa.jpg?alt=media&token=7a068490-2377-411b-b598-3d6a7d0ac5ce","id":"059899e7-18a4-4827-b0ae-425948a49dfa","width":3509,"height":2481,"filename":"(image 11 – interdependencies of the hinterland in transition).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Interdependencies of the hinterland in transition","border":false}]}
```

---

[\[1\]](#_ftnref1) Pavloudakis F., Roumpos C. (2004) Evaluation of Land Reclamation and Environmental Protection Strategies in Open-Pit Lignite Mines

[\[2\]](#_ftnref2) ibid.

[\[3\]](#_ftnref3) Costa L. (2020) Ptolemaida – life in the shadows of a coal mine

hinterland in transition - analysis

## INTRODUCTION

*The general introduction draws on the overall context of the project as well as the specific reasons for its emergence. In this case, the role of Western Macedonia within the socio-economic context of Greece. The method of analysis involves temporalities, tying cause-and-effect relations in a non-linear matter, delineating different images of the region, and showing the correlation between certain events and the current phase of West Macedonia's existence in the city/non-city continuum. On the verge of another important event for the region, which is the phasing-out of coal combustion, the project uses that as a motive leading to the design of the three objects of intervention.*

### “city” and “non-city”

For decades, for the needs of rapid development, infrastructure has been creating new systems, conquering new regions, and solving problems with solutions whose consequences are incomprehensible to us. Years of focusing primarily on “the city”, subordinated the surroundings to its greater authority. Urban areas, in their existence, were never self-contained. Their logic has been always supported and supplied by surrounding areas. The urbanisation processes were dependable on their production capacities, often limiting and predetermining the expansion.[\[1\]](#_ftn1) The confined logistics of localized productivity allowed for a clear relation, as well as division between cities and their hinterlands.[\[2\]](#_ftn2) The process of industrial acceleration, along with the rapid development of the infrastructure, diminished those rules and allowed for much greater distances between cities and their supply zones. Profit-oriented development created new scales, blurring the boundaries between urban territories. The logic of division between the “city” and “non-city”, or “urban” and “non-urban”, became obsolete.

Cities and non-cities are not separate domains but are closely intertwined and mutually dependent[\[3\]](#_ftn3). Operational zones have been highly absorbed into the process of urbanization. Allocating regions to monothematic supply hubs often exploits them irretrievably. Such strong, highly dependent relations are difficult to amortize. In consequence, when infrastructure becomes obsolete, little to no opportunities remain for the people in terms of social impacts and ecological costs. While planetary hinterland covers nearly 70 per cent of the land, there is no clear approach to studying and understanding it.[\[4\]](#_ftn4) This raises questions, to what extent will territories of hinterlands be exploited and what will be their role after they become obsolete? By closely examining the case of Western Macedonia, this work aims to investigate such relationships and their potential future. The region has already become a monofunctional, ecologically devastated landscape. Constantly hollowing out socially, culturally, and geologically[\[5\]](#_ftn5), Western Macedonia must undergo another shift. This calls into question the future shape and role of the hinterland, which of the context and conditions this project intends to examine.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FFAFEcaVvscmZyPH3RysA%2F9d7649fb-7ccd-406a-b71f-0e4b36df1cfa.jpg?alt=media&token=ff769ed9-14a3-49d5-8782-999e00b1523a","id":"9d7649fb-7ccd-406a-b71f-0e4b36df1cfa","width":2481,"height":2482,"filename":"(image 1 - Greece’s high voltage energy grid).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Greece’s high voltage energy grid","border":false}]}
```

### Powerhouse

The region of West Macedonia is an example of a hinterland in a contemporary understanding of this term. It is controlled by modernity with certain technological unawareness. Responsible for over 40% of Greece’s total energy production, it is subordinated to the role of the country's economy’s powerhouse.

Even though it is located hundreds of kilometres from large urban areas such as Athens or Thessaloniki; it became an integral part of the urban fabric. The production of electricity is a direct response to the usage of a single moment. In that respect, flipping a switch in Athens or Thessaloniki can cause the turbine of the Agios Dimitrios Power Plant to start spinning. The mutual relationship between production, and capital is binding and necessary for the existence of the urban as a whole. Its existence relies on contributing to production and supply. Just as urban areas could not exist without production spaces, today’s West Macedonia is not economically self-sufficient due to the monopolisation of extraction activity.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FFAFEcaVvscmZyPH3RysA%2F711ef734-d583-471a-932c-b9f2d5cbfd37.jpg?alt=media&token=0aa8897d-56d8-44cb-ad6f-76608c31f118","id":"711ef734-d583-471a-932c-b9f2d5cbfd37","width":2485,"height":2486,"filename":"(image 2 – Lignite mines in Western Macedonia)-01-02.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Lignite mines in Western Macedonia","border":false}]}
```

---

Greece pledged to eliminate coal-powered electricity production by 2028. This ends the phase of one type of exploitation process and creates a task for Western Macedonia to reinvent itself. The loss of importance of the region as an energetic hinterland foreshadows large consequences for its economy. Territory built around the idea of a production zone will become obsolete. Land, once conquered, now must undergo another transition process.  This illustrates the fragility of the region, being a “sacrifice zone”, entangled in the toxic process of supplying profit-oriented capitalism.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FFAFEcaVvscmZyPH3RysA%2F0f222f28-7649-42bd-8a1f-08dee3201537.jpg?alt=media&token=d2aed63d-b930-46f6-94f3-9294b978b29f","id":"0f222f28-7649-42bd-8a1f-08dee3201537","width":1536,"height":2049,"filename":"(image 3 – Ptolemaida Mine, 2022).jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Ptolemaida mine - 2022","border":false}]}
```

[\[1\]](#_ftnref1) Brenner N. (2014) Implosions / Explosions: Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanization

[\[2\]](#_ftnref2) Ibid.

[\[3\]](#_ftnref3) Brenner N. (2014) Implosions / Explosions: Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanization

[\[4\]](#_ftnref4) Ibid.

[\[5\]](#_ftnref5) Ibid.

hinterland in transition - intro

hinterand in transition - design

hinterland in transition - theory

linking key points

### During the ‘translations’ course with Alper Semih Alkan, at TU Delft, I studied two competition entries for Parc de la Villette and noticed that both projects attempted to create not a specific park for a particular location, but rather to generate a new way of designing a park - almost, like it would be a recipe for a park.

### **And since recipes can be replicated, I wrote a script that randomly generates my version of Parc de la Villette each time I press F5.**

### **Original designs:**

The design of the park de la Villette is one of the flagship symbols of Paris. The winning concept by Bernard Tschumi is a reflection of what an “urban park for the twenty-first century” should look like. Breaking with the conventional understanding of the park, the author uses the superimposition of three means of expression: point grid, lines, and surfaces, to arrange the complex program using programmatic measures. The project is an innovative way of thinking about both space organization and architectural representation.

The other key project is the competition entry by Rem Koolhaas and OMA. Searching for new methods of organization, the project uses the superimposition of strips, point grids, lines, and large-scale objects as a strategic assessment of programmatic concepts. The project presents a new, flexible architectural typology, supported by mathematical distribution. “The proposed project is not for a definitive park, but for a method that - combining programmatic instability with architectural specificity - will eventually generate a park.”

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2Fdfaa2be3-fd0d-4012-8780-a902b257e6ab.jpg?alt=media&token=3ae100b8-b05b-47ee-a638-fa0fa565cbdd","id":"dfaa2be3-fd0d-4012-8780-a902b257e6ab","width":1241,"height":1755,"filename":"17_a6.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Parc de la Villette by B. Tschumi","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F0a566707-8ea5-4f64-92ac-941ec9a80dba.jpg?alt=media&token=a3ad82fa-5b73-4e4b-adf9-21090719828a","id":"0a566707-8ea5-4f64-92ac-941ec9a80dba","width":768,"height":851,"filename":"site-plan-oma.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Parc de la Villette by OMA","border":false}]}
```

### **The script:**

A very crude yet functional Grasshopper script. I've highlighted in red the components responsible for adding "randomness" to each ingredient in the recipe.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F4b508c7f-e09a-4af4-abd8-974362b90e68.png?alt=media&token=d1e5e61e-19e8-4046-9638-04ac5cbe6f7a","id":"4b508c7f-e09a-4af4-abd8-974362b90e68","width":8151,"height":3452,"filename":"1.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F09df8f65-6f9c-4272-8858-dc5546e67075.jpg?alt=media&token=a989b8a6-d6a2-4d1e-bac5-acc5efda6abb","id":"09df8f65-6f9c-4272-8858-dc5546e67075","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p15.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"All the components I used to randomize the input ","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F355b5f1a-d84f-4c5c-9888-8179083f9242.jpg?alt=media&token=ed18c3d2-f6c7-44c7-b79f-bd08f4f87de2","id":"355b5f1a-d84f-4c5c-9888-8179083f9242","width":4961,"height":4961,"filename":"p16.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"All the components I used to make the output pretty  ","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F1fc4d21e-34b1-4029-8c5b-f1dd12b8a198.gif?alt=media&token=74ba33d1-f2ec-4271-871c-f73216f81afa","id":"1fc4d21e-34b1-4029-8c5b-f1dd12b8a198","width":500,"height":500,"filename":"ezgif.com-add-text (1).gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"Me using the script","border":false}]}
```

### **The output: 100 versions of de la Villette by Tschumi**

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2Ffb4dd882-9e54-4c16-802c-a45c68725d43.gif?alt=media&token=0bf48c06-0167-43c0-9b77-6d86b6e1fe0b","id":"fb4dd882-9e54-4c16-802c-a45c68725d43","width":1000,"height":1000,"filename":"ezgif.com-gif-maker (15).gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"100 versions of de la Villette by Tschumi ","border":false}]}
```

### **Effectiveness of the script.**

A manual process tests the completeness of the output, balance and line arrangement of the generated images, as well as the collision avoidance between surfaces and a point grid.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F1d55bb12-9c96-4c14-8e7b-104aac972e48.jpg?alt=media&token=5783aa5b-ae22-4333-ad81-a23dbc4a7fbe","id":"1d55bb12-9c96-4c14-8e7b-104aac972e48","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p18.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2Fdd8bba65-f979-401d-b260-5cd27c6fcef5.jpg?alt=media&token=814d9a8d-0d80-4887-ba9b-23ea3490cb21","id":"dd8bba65-f979-401d-b260-5cd27c6fcef5","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p25.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F8d372a4e-ca22-4617-865e-7921cffce5ed.jpg?alt=media&token=58ad8ae8-f508-46a9-a945-1591343d92fc","id":"8d372a4e-ca22-4617-865e-7921cffce5ed","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p26.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2Ffe7a91d0-8d5f-4f55-abfa-f38cfdb40d1a.jpg?alt=media&token=409bc815-6ceb-4197-ac37-92e0aec8dcc0","id":"fe7a91d0-8d5f-4f55-abfa-f38cfdb40d1a","width":4961,"height":4961,"filename":"p27.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F0cba9c8b-a4d0-45e0-be44-80310da102c9.jpg?alt=media&token=5a5f3684-6fbb-4e93-bee8-c635e2be2197","id":"0cba9c8b-a4d0-45e0-be44-80310da102c9","width":4961,"height":4961,"filename":"p28.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"selected winner","border":false}]}
```

### **The output:  100 versions of de la Villette by OMA**

### 

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2Fe45cae09-03f8-475a-9f1a-e28871c5bfe0.gif?alt=media&token=64bd277b-01d4-45ab-a484-a7ac6fe1effe","id":"e45cae09-03f8-475a-9f1a-e28871c5bfe0","width":1000,"height":1000,"filename":"ezgif.com-gif-maker (14).gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

### **What is the quality of the generated output?**

I've looked into the patterns of similarities between produced images. Starting with a matrix of 100 generated propositions, the process of manual filtering searched for the relations between them, such as overlapping,  separation, incompleteness, parallelism, and line intersections.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2Fddd75b82-9633-47d7-af68-6f01e8d03fba.jpg?alt=media&token=c1083f2e-a285-47af-8660-5f5cd5f1c3e1","id":"ddd75b82-9633-47d7-af68-6f01e8d03fba","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p17.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F43a94cb3-8b3a-44e6-99b7-741e9c048608.jpg?alt=media&token=c1bccdcf-6fa8-47b4-bbe5-65d5fb1e55c6","id":"43a94cb3-8b3a-44e6-99b7-741e9c048608","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p19.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F7a6518fa-5fc8-46db-84ff-4184a1ab6db4.jpg?alt=media&token=2dc97df5-d6e6-43d8-b25e-f7b2f9d43abd","id":"7a6518fa-5fc8-46db-84ff-4184a1ab6db4","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p20.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2F48a10378-de6a-4560-bf77-b5692f66e0f4.jpg?alt=media&token=697a556f-a1b1-4dd7-9b22-dd6a9c4b9fe0","id":"48a10378-de6a-4560-bf77-b5692f66e0f4","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p21.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F6ZApVAM17kcY6AzLTBZcP4VN2P73%2FxYEb2Dehn7bEebXRtDWf%2Fce4af523-cc93-426c-a53d-8eb51e2f9b0e.jpg?alt=media&token=ce8f52d6-376d-4558-8ae3-aaac9968be33","id":"ce4af523-cc93-426c-a53d-8eb51e2f9b0e","width":4465,"height":4465,"filename":"p22.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"selected winners","border":false}]}
```

### **I guess the main takeaway from that was that what might be easy to describe hides many complexities we are not aware of.**

The attempts to recreate design processes using scripts allow us to better understand the complexity of used tools and the relations between them. Various subconscious processes remain invisible until we materialize them.

Thanks for reading

Using Rhino 3D + Grasshopper to generate new versions of the Parc de la Villette

Architect, designer

graduated cum laude in architecture from the borders & teritorries studio

Hinterland in transition is a master thesis project from 2022, completed in Borders & Territories graduation studio at TU Delft.

The analysis part looks into the logistics of the lignite extraction, it's implications and consequences.

a brief exploration of the relationship between ground and figure, focusing on three historic observation towers in Italy

Hinterland in transition is a master thesis project from 2022, completed in Borders & Territories graduation studio at TU Delft. My tutors/supervisors were Nishat Awan and Oscar Rommens. 


The project looks at the biggest coal mine in Greece and analyses it from various perspectives. 

During my research, I've tried to understand the whole process of coal mining, the geological knowledge behind it, as well as the logistics, the consequences, the socio-economic image of the region what role mining plays in it, and many others. 

Here, I divided it into parts to make it a bit more digestible.

Hinterland in transition is a master thesis project from 2022, completed in Borders & Territories graduation studio at TU Delft.

The design part sums up all the findings and presents a position. It presents the regional and architectural intervention proposals, based on the theoretical and analytical findings. The first intervention is a large-scale master plan, which attempts to identify a point of ignition to change the direction of the ongoing continuum in the region. The approach does not aim to holistically address every encountered problem, but rather focuses on the bare minimum required to prevent the region from becoming a sacrifice zone. The three architectural interventions are grounded in the context of time and place, and each of them is tied to different aspects found in the theory and analysis parts.

Hinterland in transition is a master thesis project from 2022, completed in Borders & Territories graduation studio at TU Delft.

The theory part talks about the relation between a "city" and a "non-city", and how the latter ones become exploited to the point of exhaustion due to capitalism and globalisation.

Using Rhino 3d + Grasshopper to generate a version of the Parc de la Villette

currently working on a project of renovating a grade II listed hotel building into residential apartments in the centre of london

assistant architect

mostly involved in a multi-branch concept of a high-rise office + hotel buildings

Michal Smagala

Projects

Work Experience

Education

Contact