Elefsina — thaliamelissa

INFORMATION

Thalia Melissa is an Athens based architect and designer mostly focused on temporary small scale architecture such as set design and exhibition design.

As a scenographer she has collaborated with Yiannis Houvardas, Angeliki Papoulia, Christos Passalis, Katerina Evangelatos, Emily Louizou, Vasilis Mavrogeorgiou, Giorgos Skevas, Dimitris Tarlow, Dimitris Charalabopoulos for productions presented by the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, the National Theatre of Greece, the Onassis Stegi,
the Megaron – Athens Concert Hall and more.

She has designed contemporary art exhibitions in collaboration with the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST), Eleusis European Capital of Culture 2023, Athens & Epidaurus Festival and the National Gallery.

Elefsina mon amour

Elefsina Old Oil Mill Factory

exhibition design

2023

Participating artists: Katerina Apostolidou / Marianna Christofides / Anastasia Douka / Mahdi Fleifel / Marina Gioti / Igor Grubic / Aglaia Konrad / Natalia Manta / Adrian Paci / Serban Savu / Sphinxes (Manos Flessas & Ioanna Tsakalou) / Maria Tsagkari / Dimitris Tsoumplekas / Maarten Vanden Eynde / Vangelis Vlahos

Artistic director / curator: Katerina Gregos
Assistant curator: Dora Vasilakou
Architectural design: Thalia Melissa
Lighting design: Sakis Birbilis
Research consultant (Elefsina): Yorgos Skianis
Production: Yorgos Efstathoulidis – Constructivist Exhibitions & Andie Chantzi
Project Coordination: Zoi Moutsokou – Directorate of Contemporary Art 2023 Eleusis, Anastasia Tsopelaki – architect

Photos: John Kouskoutis, Thalia Melissa

The solo presentation of Aglaia Konrad’s work is supported by the Austrian Embassy in Athens.

2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture
With the support of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMΣT)

Links:

2023 Eleusis Capital of Culture - Mystery 3

Merit at GRAIL Awards

Published at Archisearch

Lorem Ipsum...

The exhibition design took its inspiration from the unique qualities of the venue, an industrial complex strongly connected to the city’s dense history that combines both ancient and contemporary aspects.

The industrial character of the Old Oil Mill Factory warehouses played a pivotal role in shaping the overall design aesthetics: the stone masonry walls and the exposed concrete structure with their intense textures were intentionally left visible as a reminder of the city’s industrial history.

The venue itself became an exhibit serving as both the setting and the backdrop for the entire experience.

Taking into consideration the lack of exhibition infrastructure and the restrictions on wall suspensions the grid system had to become self supporting and the molded concrete bases were added therefor.

Beyond their supporting role the concrete molds are a significant element that contributed to the whole design aesthetics. The use of concrete is also a reference to the city’s industrial history and the still active concrete factory.

Having these elements in the inventory the design evolved in forming various configurations - vertical panels, shelves, surfaces and bases - allowing flexibility to meet the exhibition's diverse needs.

The final design was shaped up to a modular system of self supporting structures that were compatible with the building’s scale and served at the same time their essential functional purpose.

The dimensions and color of the metal grid were carefully chosen so that the structures are discreet, blending seamlessly with the background walls and underlining the contrast between the grid’s organized geometry and the rough texture of the stone masonry with the intention to highlight the architectural elements of the venue.

The objective was to create a simple, discrete design that does not compete with the unique character of the venue nor the artworks but is still recognizable as a design object.

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