An entire city at your fingertips, or rather, your feet. This is the promise of Ellinikon, the ambitious project of 8 billion euro urban regeneration which is transforming the former Athens international airport into a smart city inspired by the concept of the "15 minute city". A place where residences, offices, shops, leisure spaces and culture blend harmoniously. All immersed in the greenery of a 2 million square meter coastal park destined to become the largest in Europe.
An unprecedented urban regeneration project
Ellinikon is an ambitious urban planning challenge, which aims to redefine the very concept of the city. LAMDA Development's masterplan aims to offer its residents, tenants, guests and employees a 360-degree experience, where everything you need is within a 15-minute walk.
The project will be built on the area of the former Athens International Airport, operational from 1938 to 2001, and the tourist port built to host the Sailing Center during the 2004 Summer Olympics. A radical transformation that aims to revive a now obsolete area , returning it to the city in a completely new guise.
A functional mix in the name of liveability
One of the most interesting aspects of Ellinikon is the functional mix that characterizes the project. Residences, shops, offices. Spaces for leisure, entertainment and culture. They all integrate into a compact and livable urban fabric, designed to encourage social interaction and quality of life. At the center of everything, an immense green lung.
The urban planning idea of the "15 minute city" is gaining more and more support at an international level. The idea is to create self-sufficient neighborhoods where residents can meet most of their daily needs within walking or cycling distance, thereby reducing car dependency and promoting a more sustainable and healthy lifestyle. Obviously there is no shortage of detractors, mostly frightened by the possibility that these solutions deprive citizens of personal freedoms. What do you think about it?
A dream team of architects
To realize the urban vision behind Ellinikon, LAMDA Development brought together a team of world-renowned architects. Between them Foster and Partners, Kengo Kuma and Associates, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Aedas, SAOTA, Oppenheim Architecture e Sasaki. These are accompanied by Greek studies such as 314 Architecture Studio e Bobotis+Bobotis Architects, in a mix of international and local talents that promises to give life to a one-of-a-kind project. Urban planning at the highest levels.
Each studio is working on specific components of the master plan. From the Riviera Tower by Foster + Partners, destined to become the first skyscraper in Greece, to the Riviera Galleria by Kengo Kuma, a luxury shopping center that will host the best fashion and design brands. And again, the residential complexes designed by BIG, 314 Architecture Studio, Deda & Architects and Tsolakis Architects, each with its own architectural identity but all united by an attention to sustainability and the quality of the spaces.
Ambitious timeline for the urban planning of the future
Work on Ellinikon has already been underway for some time and is progressing at a rapid pace. The first part of the park, the The Ellinikon Experience Park, was completed in June 2021, while in April 2022 The Ellinikon Experience Center has opened its doors, an exhibition space where visitors can preview the project through immersive installations and digital activities.
But 2026 is the year circled in red. By that date, in fact, many of the key components of the project should be completed, up to the new residential neighborhoods of Little Athens. A milestone that will mark the beginning of a new era for Athens and for European urban planning.
A challenge that looks to the future
Ellinikon represents a complex and fascinating challenge, which brings into play not only enormous economic and planning resources, but also an innovative vision of the city. A city in which technology is placed at the service of quality of life, in which environmental sustainability is combined with the livability of spaces, in which people are at the center of every plan choice.
If it delivers on its promises, it could truly become a model of urban planning for the 21st century, just as the Athenian city model became an example of advanced urban planning in the ancient world.
