Constructing the Commons:

2018

European Cultural Centre of Delphi & Zappeion Megaron

Concept, design & realisation:

Elena Stavropoulou, architect

Collaborating architect: Nagia Kostarellou

Texts: Elena Stavropoulou,, Angeliki Poulou

Photos: Constantine Thomopoulos

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Our practice undertook the design of the space in which the 3rd edition of the International Olive Oil Competition "Athena" took place, in the European Cultural Centre of Delphi organised by  Vinetum. For this purpose, we created an installation on the theme of Constructing the Commons: Olive, Oil, Light  which we have reproduced at the Zappeion Conference and Exhibition Centre for the awards ceremony the 28th of April. The installation aims to reveal the diachronic economic and cultural significance of olive oil as an occupation, with its gaze fixed on its new era.

 

The Commons are goods that have been inherited from previous generations, have been created collectively or are a natural heritage. Olive oil is inscribed in a material and symbolic way in the tradition of the Mediterranean. The land, the olive, oil, its production in the olive oil press, its standardization and enjoyment, are also part of the discussion about the Commons.