For six weeks, twenty two architecture students from the University of Western Australia roamed the streets of Athens in search of inspiration for their project Athens Studio 2014: envisaging the future city of Athens. The students had to project the image of Athens in the year 2033, when the city is to celebrate its bicentenary as capital of Greece. The look should certainly be greener, more colourful and more culturally diverse, without forsaking the trademarks and identity of Athens.

Athens Studio 2014 picks up from where the previous experiment left off. In 2013, the students were asked to wander around Athens and chart a city in crisis. An underprivileged district of Athens called Yerani (Geranium) was selected to become the first project of the Australian architecture students. After observing the urban fabric and the local people, the students made suggestions for improvement. 

The plans of both projects, Athens Studio 2013 and 2014, will be soon exhibited at the Hellenic American Union in Athens, opening on January 15. The exhibition is called "Urbanism of Negotiation" and it continues for another 15 days.

Hellenic Institute of Architecture: www.heliarch.gr