“Not that a man sees something new as the first to do so, but that he sees something old, familiar, seen but overlooked by everyone, as though it were new, is what distinguishes true originality.” Friedrich Nietzsche
HSS 2220
Strolling Incognito in Athens: the Art of City Walkabouts
International Honors Seminar, ACG, Deree, The American College of Greece
Students:
- Calvin, David Ryan
- Gkargka, Loukia
- High, Jacob Matthew
- Katsoudas, Ioannis
- Lowery, Tiffany
- Nakos, Dimitrios
- Nikolaou, Anastasia
- Polemis, Marion-Alexandra
- Skartsilakis, Emmanouil
- Stavrogiannis, Christos
Instructor: Dr. Georgia Giannakopoulou
Social theory, urban studies, urban geography, philosophy, history, art history, literature, and architecture emphasize how the critical interpretation of particular urban phenomena contributes to our understanding of key dimensions of the social world. In drawing our attention to the study of urban elements, many scholars of the big city have explored the ways in which individual experiences and alternative approaches to the metropolis may unmask what lies hidden in what Walter Benjamin defines as capitalist metropolitan “phantasmagoria.” By using contemporary Athens as strolling ground, and by employing an interdisciplinary approach, the students engage in flânerie in order to examine the several layers of the Athenian palimpsest.
Inspired by David Frisby’s discussion of flânerie as a critical interpretative social science research method, the students engage in structured walkabouts in the city of Athens, and become both readers and writers of the text of the city. In this context, emphasis upon individual experience of the cityscape as a palimpsest reveals various discourses and urban morphologies (sociological, historical, aesthetic, etc.), as well as to everyday social interactions. This website is a collection of the students’ critical observations of Athens in June/July 2019.
The Art of Taking a Walk at Places with Pasts
Sitting at a town square is something that has been common among people for many years. Parents sitting watching their children play with their bikes and rollers, the young teenagers sitting in groups, and even people sitting for only a few minutes, waiting to meet a friend. These images are very common to people here in Greece, especially those of us who grew up in smaller cities than Athens. Specifically, Agia Paraskevi’s square of Agiou Ioannou is an exceptional “hybrid” location combining past and present, not in its architecture, but in its people – its “passersby” and its numerous “fleeting impressions” throughout every passing day. In the mornings, it is normally empty as it is too hot for anyone to sit outside, and adults are at work and children at school. In the afternoons, it starts to fill up with parents and grandparents who bring their children and grandchildren of different ages to play. Finally, every summer night for some years now, the square fills with teenagers and college students who hang out there in groups and have a drink. For some reason, in the past two years, this has become a trend and the square of Agiou Ioannou is now very popular and thus, full of life every single night from May to September. This square along with its life show the flaneur the transition from past to present modernity.
By Gkargka Loukia
The Sepolia Stroll
The moment David and I stepped out of the metro station, I felt like I had just arrived at a village. Sepolia is a calm and quiet area, which made me feel like it is more of a residential one. As we walked, I realized that the shops that are present are very few and were mainly supermarkets. I did not take notice of any offices and I only spotted a limited number of cafes. This implies that it is not a student area and that you would mostly find families and old people living there. Even though Sepolia is filled with residential buildings, which seemed to be inhabited, it is not much of a lively place. Everyone was walking with a purpose, no one was strolling. Moreover, there was not much graffiti like in most areas of Athens; there was just a little tagging here and there. The only piece I found that resembled artwork is the one below.
The thing that confounded me the most was the Digital Museum of Plato and its surrounding. Firstly, it is very unfair, in my opinion, how unknown this museum is to people, and how much of a loss it is to not know of its existence or to not have visited it. Furthermore, even though Plato’s Academy was there for centuries, there is not a single sign of antiquity around there. Thus, you do not get the historic feel that you are meant to, and Sepolia, sadly, does not do the museum justice. The way to the museum is not too difficult to follow, however, in general, it is not as accessible as it should be and it is a 15-minute walk from the metro station to the museum – a distance that many would be too lazy to cross, especially in the summer heat. Nonetheless, today was a very informative day for me and I got influenced in the best way possible.
By Gkargka Loukia
The concept of the flâneur
In their “A Walk on the Wild Side: Urban Ethnography Meets the Flâneur”, Jenks and Neves remind “not forget the expressed intention of producing a description, a comment, the intention of expressing feelings”. Walking into the “Iliou Melathron”, a neoclassic building created by a german architect Ziller, located in the center of Athens in Panepistimiou street, I attempted to observe any images and symbols of the place. As Jenks and Neves explain, “psychogeography” is achieved through the “derive”, the “seeing” and “being drawn into events, situations and images by an abandonment to wholly unanticipated attention”. This was a neoclassic jewel of the city from the past (1881) which is still brilliant today. I noticed ancient symbols such as the swastika motif before it was abused by the Nazis, a geometric figure also found in Troy according to the findings of Schliemann, the owner of the building. Grapes, also carrying many symbolisms such as fertility and prosperity.
I cannot hold myself as I wander from wondering: Does Athens today still embrace the Dionysian fertility of past centuries?
This building is now very close to a modern one, much less representative of the urban ethnography (a description of a specific human culture) of that time but is still offering a spectacle between the 19th century and the 20th century.
by Marion Polemis
Omonoia & Stadiou Flânerie
by Marion Polemis
One of the rare cases where I remember myself practicing flânerie is when I am on a holiday as a tourist, finding everything new and exciting. This mostly happens when I am in a foreign country, experiencing new tastes, smells but also observing different architectural monuments and art. But what about flânerie in a place which is so close to my everyday life? How many times have I been to the center of Athens doing specific things in specific places without taking the time to learn more about the city? Our strolling incognito experience created many emotions. First, I had the pleasure to meet and have as a co traveler Tiffany, which embraced each part of this long street with great curiosity and interest but also reflection in the so many contradictory images. Together with her, I rediscovered familiar places and images. I walked through covered walkways, looked high to discover traces of older Greek architecture, looked to actually see. I discovered a whole new place, trees where I never expected ones, images of dirtiness and cleanliness being separated instantly as I walked towards the heart of Athens, Syntagma. I felt like I was passing from the “shame” of an old impoverished Omonoia square to a more decent place, proud and ready to accommodate tourism and the bourgeoisie of Athens through huge banks, hotels and luxury shops.
Another surprise was the National Historical Museum. There I wondered: Do we really know what we think we know? Hidden Athenas in the museum: an owl, a dress and a flag!
Disregarded Athenian Art
Walking with a purpose normally makes people move and think fast; thus, if a person ever notices anything happening around them, it will only be an event may seem odd or that cannot go unnoticed. A dawdler, on the other hand, will perceive everything present and happening around him or her. The first thing I regarded today was Nikos Kessanlis’ work that is, at the Omonoia metro station, titled “The Tail.” While I stopped to look and to take a picture of Kessanlis’ piece, I noticed that everyone was actually looking at me while they hurried up the escalator, as it was probably something odd, especially for the locals, to see someone pay this much attention to something in the metro at 10 o’ clock in the morning. Dawdling in the city center of Athens, especially in this season, made me actually realize the amount of diversity that exists, and not only with all the people from different parts of the world, but also, mainly, with architecture and the mood of the people and the various buildings that fill the streets of the city. However, what impressed me the most was the combination of modern and aged buildings with graffiti art. Specifically, this mix of past and present could also be seen in some of the graffiti. Today, I realized how different the things we notice are when walking without having a specific place to get to or walking with the purpose of watching our surroundings than when we mechanically move to arrive to our desired destination. I found that it is very favorable to do what we did today, as I saw many things from a different perspective and began to appreciate my surroundings and what they provide me much more.
By Gkargka Loukia
From Sepolia to Digi Plato
Sepolia, as we have heard from others, is a place which is not easily approached. It is said that it has notorious neighborhoods filled with gypsies or drug addicts/dealers. Having reached Sepolia seemed a bit scary in the beginning due to the brain wash we sustained, however, we saw something entirely different. New buildings, coffee shops, supermarkets, parks and generally a suburb that is evolving and developing. Of course, there are still areas in Sepolia that need maintenance. As we where strolling, we sat to a beautiful park mesmerized by its beauty. Our task was to find the digital museum of Plato (if only he knew that someday he would be digitized!!). The task became a mission because it was a bit difficult to discover the museum. There were no signs and even with the help of technology, it still was tricky. When we arrived at the museum, I was thrilled with all the things we could learn about Plato! The academy he built was there in digital form (since the original academy of Plato built by his disciple, Aristotle, was long gone) giving you the opportunity to absorb all the knowledge you could get. While wandering, we saw the famous painting of Raphael which represented the Academy of Plato and we found out very interesting things regarding the techniques and the hidden meanings of the painting!! Later, we experienced Plato’s Allegory of the cave (long story short, the allegory was created to show to people the effect of education and the lack of it in our nature) in an interactive way. It is a shame that the State does nothing to appoint such historic figures and areas. If they could create a replica of the Academy of Plato, everyone’s soul would benefit from its sight.
Stroll #3 – Skartsilakis Emmanouil
When Friar met Kazantzakis
Almost every person, and not only Greeks, know Nikos Kazantzakis. He was an exceptional writer and was nominated for the Nobel Prize of Literature. We were really privileged to have the opportunity to go through the archives of Kimon Friar, the person who translated the Odyssey of Kazantzakis. We were able to touch his personal belongings which felt like they had mystical powers in them. We uncovered parts of the life of Kazantakis and learned more about his life. We also played a very insightful and fun game which made us understand the importance of research and archiving. What felt emotional about Kimon Friar who was half Greek half American, was that after he finished translating the Odyssey and after Kazantzakis died, he decided to come back to Greece in the early 60’s for the rest of his life and learn how to write Greek correctly. His personal notebooks were so many, full of Greek lessons and accidentally i turned one of the pages and saw that he used as scrap papers the Report to Greco (famous book of Kazantzakis) rough papers . It was an invaluable experience for me!
Skartsilakis Emmanouil
HSS 2220 Blog 