LOVE ACTUALLY ... COMMON OBJECTS ... DANJOU ... THE BLIND SCANNER ... DEEP TIME ... NO STOP CLASSROOM ... A NATION IS SOMETHING THIN ... DISPLACEMENT AND RESISTANCE ... SHELL CONSTRUCTION ... SHELF LIFE ... NO STOP SHOPPING ... THE END OF BUILDINGS ... THE VIRTUAL CITY ... BUILDING CODE ... PENDULUM
A Nation is
SomethinG Thin
The many phases of the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens—an ancient athletic venue abandoned in the middle ages and reconstructed for the first modern Olympics—serve as an index for the history of the Greek state.
Today Greece is in crisis, national identities are in tumult worldwide, and the Panathenaic stadium is visited primarily by teenagers acting out ironic fake athletics. It is an opportunity to explore new modes of collective identity, not only because this particular formalization of nationhood has fallen out of relevance, but because it is not irreplaceable. The perpetual de- and re-constructions od the stadium are its true legacy.
Dismantling the stadium and repurposing its marble celebrates material acts of construction and demolition, recognizes the forward momentum of history, and creates opportunities to explore new relationships among the populace.
WINNER, LOWENFISH MEMORIAL PRIZE
MARK WASIUTA, CRITIC
SPRING 2018
