Youth Enterpreneurship Center
The Chani of Thermopylon Street, one of the four historic Chanias that Paphos counted 150 years ago in the fabric of the city, is an example of the architectural heritage of the area and is classified as a preserved building. In the last century, it was an element of the social and commercial life of the city, but mainly an element of the intercultural function and the smooth coexistence of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
Chani, a Turkish word for “inn”, derived from the Persian khan, meaning a group of long-distance travelers, housed the travelers of past centuries with their animals and carriages who stayed overnight in their buildings and inner courtyard. With the restoration of the Chani of Thermopylae, the total reconstruction and revitalization of the traditional center will be completed, with the Khani of Ibrahim as a core and the accompanying Khani of Fellachoglou, which have already been restored, transforming the entire area into a lung of economic and social revitalization, connecting modern Paphos with her story.
Location: Paphos, Cyprus
Year: 2023
Area: 3.770m²
Category: Restoration, Competition
Project Team:
Dimitris Stefanakis – Studio 99
Foteini Giamakou – Giamakos Architects
Giannis Retsios – Architect, Student
Giannis Mimitos, – Architect, Student
Konstantinos P. Trichias – LAASTIK Architectural Studio
Consultants:
Nikolaos Chatzinikolaou – Civil Engineer
Dimitris Skordas – Civil Engineer
Site Plan
Form & Elements
Our architectural proposal was drawn up with the aim of protecting, preserving and highlighting the building complex, contributing to the completion of the aesthetic upgrade of the historic shopping center of Paphos. Observing the urban mapping of the area, we came across preserved buildings with visible stone on the facades and buildings with colored plaster.
Grafting the present and the future with memories, our proposal aims to preserve the feeling of the lost Hani in the spaces and enable new users to connect themselves with it.
Our goal is to preserve it for the future and the next generations, being an expression in space and time of the collective memory. To create an atmosphere in the space where the memories of the past will come to life and the character of the historic building will be redefined in parallel with the achievement of business sustainability and professional training of young people, giving further momentum to the commercial movement of the area.
A trilogy of materials, memory and sensation – the experience of place is realized in the shell and spaces of the building, as a unit of great social importance that opens up to the city and its history.
