Dimitris Andriopoulos conversed with the Minister of Culture, Mrs. Lina Mendoni, on a panel titled “From Past to Present: Reimagining Industrial and Heritage Buildings in the Urban Core,” moderated by journalist Adam Provatas.

Speaking about underutilized buildings in Athens, Mr. Andriopoulos provided some interesting insights: “In 2015, we discovered that cities are filled with abandoned buildings. Over the past 9 years, out of 220,000 square meters in 15 projects, we have added only 27,000 square meters through new construction.”

He emphasized the importance of these new uses including offices and processes of the “orange” economy involving innovation, creation, and culture, even residences. He cited the historical building that housed Minion as an example, which “lit up Patision Avenue,” and referred to how successful ideas from abroad, implemented in cities like Berlin, Barcelona, and Madrid, have been adapted to Greek circumstances even more successfully.

Olga Itsiou conversed with the Vice President of “Papastratos,” Iakovos Kargarotos, on a panel titled “Harm Reduction: A complementary policy next to prevention.”

At the center of Ms. Itsiou’s speech was the policy of “harm reduction” in constructions. “We are dependent on the built environment. Reducing harm regarding this involves reducing our environmental footprint. Developments must be environmentally friendly. They should take into account the social and economic impact they have. We have reached a saturation point on the planet and must improve the footprint we have left so far,” she said.

She advocated for investments in environmentally friendly buildings as one of the solutions and continued: “We should not promote car use. We should use certifications. We should do proper planning, passive building designs, design efficient buildings, pay attention to how we construct, safety and health issues on a construction site. We should involve the local community to know what is happening in their area.”

Giving the example of the Tower of Piraeus, she noted: “We conducted a study on the Piraeus Tower. We invited academics to examine the scenarios. Whether to demolish the Piraeus Tower and rebuild it from scratch or to preserve it. In terms of energy, if you preserve it, you save 43 gigawatt-hours of energy equivalent to the consumption of 10,000 households for a year.