TREE co-organizes the 2nd Marathon Ecofestival. Part of this experimental process this year, is the realization of two workshops for students of architecture. They involve one workshop on tensile structures and another workshop on building techniques with the use of clay.
Excerpts from the first weekend of workshops which will produce the grand covered Social Space for the Ecofestival, with the reuse of used sailing sails, as well as the mold for the creation of an information center with the use of clay building techniques.

Meeting party for Marathonecofestival members group Sunday, April 29th On this upcoming Sunday we participate in the Let’s Do it Greece campaign, (http://www.letsdoitgreece.org/). We will focus on the Souliou Avenue up to where Rizari street begins. We will clean Rizari as far as we can get and we will continue on cleaning the estate where the 2nd Marathon Ecofestival will take place. This is an occasion to meet, discuss our vision, work on ideas and collaborate on a memorable ecofestival for this year.
Meeting point is the Ecofestival esate (see map directions below) 

 DAY SCHEDULE

10:30-11:00 Arrival-preparations-coordination.

11:00-13:00 Cleaning

13:00-14:00 Discussions on the Ecofestival

14:00-15:30 Lunch break

15:30-17:30 Works related to the ecofestival.  Contributing with work is optional. You may participate only in the communal lunch and the discussion if you wish! 

What can you bring for working with us:

• Work clothes 
• Sun hat and work gloves 
• Big garbage bags 

After our first visit, this time we will concentrate on specific areas and on preparing the spots where workshops will take place
* in addition we will clean up the piled garbage in the area immediate to the estate entrance.

• we concentrate on specific areas. 
• we prune lower branches of trees to make space for shade and easy access. 
• depending on the number of participants, we do preparation work that workshop will need.  

At noon we share and enjoy a potluck lunch inside the property with light food, wine and refreshments we all bring together.

• remember to bring blankets, pillows and chairs along to sit on,  

since the property does not provide such amenities yet!

When we are done, we clean up the space and leave it better than we found it...
Meeting point at the Ecofestival property.

For directions, please consult the map here.
Those of you coming from close distances consider using your bikes.
Those of you coming from Athens, please consider sharing a ride with others!

http://marathonecofestival.wordpress.com/

Some moments and elements from the Emergence workshop (12-18/12) which took place as part of  ECOWEEK as well as from the public discussion that took place at the Embros Theater on 14/12.

TREE announces its second workshop for young architects, students of architecture and related fields. 

(If you would like to browse TREE's past workshop for students you may visit this link). 

Emergence is a term used in philosophy, systems theory, science and art to signify the way that complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment.

Social & Community Sustainability, the workshop’s theme, allows associations that are relevant both to the physical and to the social aspects of sustainability, in other words both the framework we live in, buildings, streets, infrastructure as well as the people that produce, inhabit and use them. Another concept that is of much relevance at times such as ours is Resilience. This workshop will attempt to tie together and work with concepts of Sustainability, Emergence and Resilience in both physical and social frameworks. Practically, in an attempt to bridge theory and action [praxis], this workshop will involve an in depth immersion in the city’s life, provided through specific readings, invited speakers and nomadic visits at places that show signs of any of the three themes of emergence, resilience and sustainability. Our task will be to work with the physical and the social realities of such chosen places in the city, to analyze and propose realistic steps that will enhance and strengthen these attributes. The character of the workshop will engage spaces in the city such as Plato’s Academy, the neighbourhoods of Psiri and Kypseli and specific buildings of significance in these areas, such as Kafeneion, the Empros Theatre and the Kypseli market which we will examine under the light of emergence. Our methodology will involve artistic, scientific and empirical methods, presentations, fieldwork, specific contact and design methodologies and contact with the community.  

Full daily schedule and all details will be announced one week prior to the beginning of the workshop. The names of invited speakers and members of groups and networks will also be announced. 

Information on ECOWEEK                                             Registration

Some moments from the clayball seeding event at Maniaki... Nicholas Anastasopoulos,architect representing TREE as well as member of the Maniaki initiative, coordinated contact between the clay ball seeding team at Maniaki and the participants of the “Cultura21” network workshop through live tele-conferencing. The “Cultura21” workshop took place at Wusting, just outside of Bremen and its theme was “The Cultivation of Ecology/-ies: gardens and complexity in rural and urban areas”.