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Navy Museum Play Space
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Glen Eden Design Comp
Thriving Neighbourhoods
Play Research to Singapore
Transforming the Streets
Ben Joins Reset
IFLA Award for Judges Bay
2013 NZILA Awards
Town Square Opening
Garth wins Omaha surf comp
Revisting Mount Maunganui
Pocket Park Two Underway
Navy Museum Works Update
Re visiting Taranaki
NZILA Auckland Chairman
Garth Celebrates 25 years
CityGate Underway
Completion of the Landing
Across the Boards - Issue 9
Pukekohe Town Square
Tomato growing challenge
Tiri Road Pocket Park
The Vivian Gallery
Spring Time in Matakaka
Retrieving Shoal Bay
PARK(ing) Day
Urban Sketchers
Intelligent Furniture
Across the Boards - Issue 8
The Landing
Garth's Trip to Tonga
Shared Space Opening
Matakana Main Street
Parkland Guidelines
IPENZ Award - Judges Bay
Gibbs Sculpture Park Visit
Fraser Wins Surfing Comp
Christophe Girot - visting soon
Across the Boards - Issue 7
Hamilton Shared Space
Garth's Visit to the Red Zone
Core Builders Composites
Book Review by Garth
Waiuku River Lane
Ocean View Road Pocket Park
Te Hana Visit
Merry Christmas
Christophe Girot Visit
Christmas in the Pa
Garden Place Sculpture Opening
Jamie Joins Reset
Across the Boards - Issue 6
Waiuku River Lane Update
Garth's Trip to Perth
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Surfers Paradise Foreshore
Bryce St Dining Lane
Auckland Spatial Plan
DIA WA Forum
Judges Bay Update
Garden Place Opening
RWC Opening Night
'Gardensity'
The City as a Play Space
Wynyard Quarter
Ken & Garth Visit Christchurch
Rebel Art
Judges Bay Construction
Ken Smith Lectures
Skate Pinball
AILA Sustainability Conference
Re visiting Havelock North
Boomtown 2050-Book Review
Ken Smith Visit - July
Omaha Club Surf Competition
e2 Design Documentary
Chartered Fishing Trip
Omaha Quarry
Across the Boards - Issue 5
Maori Architecture - Book Review
The Landscape in Greece
London River Park
China to Create Mega City
Weekend Deluge
The Vege Patch
Waiuku Town Square
Simon Rackham Visit
January 2011 Surf Trip
Hypar Pavilion
Reset Surf Trip 2010
Garden Place Update
Nat's Sabbatical
Terrorquake - Garth Falconer
Across the Boards - Issue 3
Pavement to Parks
Te Hana
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Environmental Award 2010
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Claire's Back
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Longest Bench, Littlehampton
Abbie Joins the Team
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Book Review - Hargreaves
Across the Boards - Issue 2
Interpretive Signage
Allen Nicholson
Green Megalomania
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Great White South - Part 1
Great White South - Part 2
From Terrorism to Tourism
Claire Heads to Uganda
2010 NZILA Awards
Nell Fisher Reserve Opens
Winter Olympics
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Waiuku Weir
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Summer Surf Spots
San Clemente Trails
Mexico
Across the Boards - Issue1
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Drawing Workshops
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Plaka
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Architecture+Site:25
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2 x 2
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Swanston St Melbourne
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Waiuku Built Works
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Hamilton Built Works
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Landscape NZ Launch
Borneo Sporenberg
Reset Opens Doors
newsPlaka is an established mixed use suburb in the heart of Athens, bounded by the Acropolis.
This central suburb of Athens is inundated by a huge quantity of tourists, but remains well integrated with a large population of locals. Largely living in 5 to 7 level buildings (set below the height of the acropolis), these are festooned with potted ornamental and productive gardens. There is a series of local neighborhoods, each in close proximity to all the conveniences of urban life including pocket supermarkets which are stacked vertically (“go to level 3 for meat and cheese”) with no or little provision for parking.
In the midst of Plaka is the new Acropolis Museum, 14,000m2 housing 4250 artifacts. Designed by Bernard Tschumi in collaboration with local architect Micheal Photiadis, opened in June 2009. The building is sensitively piled over ancient urban ruins with a clear circulation plan that starts from a ramp going up 4 levels to a public cafe. The Dove Grey interior and natural light create a serene setting and potential home for the return of the Elgin marbles. Less satisfactory is the rear of the building which abruptly juts into the fine grain of the existing residential area as well as some controversy with the removal of neo classical buildings to open up views to the Acropolis.