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K-Studio Transforms Athens' El Paso Stadium into a Community Hub

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K-Studio, in partnership with Athens Kallithea FC and Arup, is embarking on an ambitious project to revitalize the El Paso Stadium in Kallithea, a district of Athens. Known for its distinctive rocky landscape, reminiscent of the 'Spaghetti Western' film 'For a Few Dollars More,' the stadium is set to evolve from a traditional football venue into a dynamic community center. This comprehensive renovation aims to expand the stadium's capacity from 6,300 to 9,000 seats, while also enhancing its accessibility and integrating various public amenities. The design strategy focuses on preserving the stadium's unique character and historical significance within the neighborhood, ensuring it remains a familiar landmark while adapting to contemporary needs. The initiative is a testament to K-Studio's vision of creating spaces that serve both sporting and broader civic functions, reflecting Athens Kallithea FC's commitment to cultural engagement.

The El Paso Stadium, a cherished home for Athens Kallithea FC since 1970, is undergoing a profound transformation that extends beyond mere structural upgrades. A key element of this redesign is the conversion of the previously enclosed perimeter into a welcoming public green space. This strategic change will introduce new vegetation, addressing the urban density of Athens and contributing to a cooler microclimate around the stadium. This reimagined boundary will give the site a more prominent and inviting presence, particularly on non-match days. Furthermore, K-Studio's innovative facade, drawing inspiration from Athenian scaffolding, will envelop the stadium in an architectural layer designed to host a variety of social programs. These include food and retail outlets, wellness facilities, and spaces for exhibitions and cultural events, effectively weaving the stadium into the city's daily rhythm.

Dimitris Karampatakis, Founding Partner and Creative Director of K-Studio, emphasized the importance of honoring the stadium's strong history and raw aesthetic while ushering it into a new era. The transformation is envisioned as a contemporary venue that not only supports sports but also serves as a vibrant hub for community gathering and well-being. This philosophy aligns perfectly with Athens Kallithea FC's broader identity, which has already established partnerships with prominent cultural institutions like the EMST National Museum of Contemporary Art and the Greek National Opera. These collaborations underscore the club's dedication to extending its influence beyond the football pitch, fostering civic pride and local exchange through various cultural initiatives.

K-Studio's approach to the El Paso Stadium redesign is not about replacing its essence but rather about unlocking its full potential. By retaining the stadium's core structure and improving its spatial functionality, the project aims to attract a diverse range of visitors throughout the week. The inclusion of new programs transforms the stadium into a year-round destination, offering something for everyone. This strategy is consistent with K-Studio's extensive experience in hospitality and cultural projects, as demonstrated by their work on Rosewood Blue Palace in Crete and Athens International Airport. Their expertise ensures that the stadium will cater to both the intense atmosphere of match days and the everyday needs of the neighborhood, balancing high-energy events with tranquil community spaces.

Giorgos Karampelas, Creative Director of K-Studio, reiterated that the redesign is conceived as a catalyst for urban revitalization, transcending the scope of a typical sports upgrade. By leveraging their deep understanding of placemaking, K-Studio aims to create enduring spaces that become active civic hubs. This vision seeks to strengthen the stadium's connectivity within Athens, making it an attractive destination for both local residents and visitors. The integrated design fosters a sense of community ownership and engagement, transforming El Paso Stadium into a landmark that truly serves its urban context.

The revamp of El Paso Stadium represents a forward-thinking fusion of sports, culture, and community engagement. By augmenting its seating capacity and introducing an array of public facilities, the stadium is set to become a vibrant, multi-functional anchor within Kallithea. The project skillfully balances modernization with a respect for the site's historical roots, ensuring that the stadium continues its legacy as a beloved landmark while embracing its renewed role as a dynamic civic space.

Studio 10 Integrates Artificial Cave Pavilion into Wetland Landscape
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Studio 10 Integrates Artificial Cave Pavilion into Wetland Landscape

KI Revolutionizes Seating with Cognetic Technology™: Redefining Comfort and Movement
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KI Revolutionizes Seating with Cognetic Technology™: Redefining Comfort and Movement

Table Manners: Redefining the Intimacy of Cutlery
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Table Manners: Redefining the Intimacy of Cutlery

Building materials

BIRI's Casa Castela: Blending Architecture with Brazilian Topography

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BIRI's Casa Castela, nestled in Nova Lima, Brazil, showcases a masterful integration of architecture with its demanding natural surroundings. The design ingeniously navigates a significant thirteen-meter elevation difference, transforming what could be an obstacle into a defining characteristic of the property. This residential project not only addresses the functional needs of its inhabitants but also creates a dynamic relationship with the landscape, leveraging the site's verticality to shape a unique architectural journey.

The genesis of Casa Castela began with a careful site selection process, where BIRI architects collaborated with the clients to choose a location that offered both breathtaking views and practical accessibility. The chosen plot presented a dual challenge: a dramatic slope and an existing incomplete structure. Rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the architects embarked on a comprehensive analysis of the existing elements, conducting detailed topographic surveys and refining the spatial brief to harmonise with the environment.

A key aspect of the design is its innovative circulation system. Instead of merely overcoming the steep terrain, the design embraces it. An elevator and an elevated metal walkway gracefully traverse the incline, connecting the street level to the main entrance of the house. This deliberate transition allows residents and visitors to experience the landscape gradually, turning a simple journey into an observational sequence. This distinctive access route also serves as a visual landmark within the local architectural context. At the base of the property, robust reinforced concrete retaining walls are strategically employed to create functional parking areas, seamlessly carved into the hillside. Similarly, at the rear, a protected courtyard is formed through careful excavation, separating the living spaces from the natural ground and mitigating moisture while offering a secluded outdoor sanctuary.

The internal layout of Casa Castela, meticulously planned by BIRI's architectural team, establishes a clear distinction between communal and private zones. The upper level is dedicated to private quarters, housing a master suite and two children's bedrooms that share a connecting bathroom. The ground floor serves as the hub for social and shared activities, featuring a spacious living room, dining area, an atelier, a ping-pong room, and a kitchen. Practical service areas, such as storage and laundry facilities, are thoughtfully positioned on the western side, ensuring that the primary living spaces remain open and connected to the exterior environment.

Connecting these two distinct levels is an internal staircase, a blend of steel and reinforced concrete, reflecting the layered structural elements used throughout the construction. The material palette for the house draws inspiration from regional building traditions, incorporating reinforced concrete for the primary structure, ceramic masonry for the walls, aluminum window systems, and traditional ceramic roof tiles. Notably, steel components like the pergola, elevator structure, and walkway are finished in earthy tones, echoing the iron-rich landscape characteristic of Nova Lima. The interior design further enhances the house's artistic ambiance, with paintings, canvases, and personal artifacts thoughtfully integrated into the living areas. Lighting is employed with subtlety, accentuating the spatial arrangement, material textures, and carefully chosen interior elements without overpowering the overall atmosphere.

Ultimately, Casa Castela stands as a testament to thoughtful design that respects and responds to its environment. BIRI's vision transformed a challenging site into a harmonious residence, where every architectural detail contributes to a cohesive and enriching living experience, demonstrating how constraints can lead to creative and impactful solutions.

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Gijs Van Vaerenbergh Reimagines Herkenrode Abbey's Lost Architecture with Steel Frameworks

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Gijs Van Vaerenbergh's "CLAUSURA" art project offers a compelling reinterpretation of the historical Herkenrode Abbey in Belgium. This large-scale intervention reconstructs the abbey's lost core through an intricate steel framework, providing a 'ghost-like' outline of its vanished cloisters. Commissioned by the Flemish heritage organization Herita, the installation aims to resurrect the abbey's historical presence without literally rebuilding it. Thin steel tubes meticulously trace the contours of the absent structures directly onto the landscape, creating a dynamic visual experience where architecture alternates between clear visibility and subtle disappearance, inviting viewers to actively engage with the site's rich past.

Herkenrode Abbey, established in the late 12th century, was once a thriving Cistercian monastery in the Low Countries. Over centuries, it expanded to encompass extensive cloister gardens, galleries, convent buildings, infirmaries, and a Gothic church. However, due to various historical events such as fires, decay, and demolitions, most of its central edifices were lost, leaving only fragmented remnants of the original complex today. The CLAUSURA project seeks to bridge this gap, allowing contemporary visitors to visualize the grandeur of the abbey as it once stood.

The Belgian artistic duo, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, conceptualized a spatial drawing that restores the abbey's ensemble through precise outlines, rhythmic patterns, and varying perspectives. The installation faithfully recreates the missing buildings at their original dimensions and locations using a lightweight grid of steel tubes. This design allows the structure to appear to dissolve into its natural surroundings, offering a constantly evolving perception depending on the observer's viewpoint. The interplay of light and shadow, combined with the visitor's movement, brings elements like vaults, windows, towers, and rooflines into temporary focus before they recede into abstract forms.

Beyond merely outlining vanished structures, the project also integrates new steel frameworks with existing remnants of the sisters' quarters, infirmary, and arcade. These additions stabilize and extend the surviving masonry, replicating former roof structures and creating sheltered spaces for temporary use, thus preserving the historical integrity while adding new functionalities. This approach reflects Gijs Van Vaerenbergh's ongoing exploration of architecture as a perceptual experience, turning buildings into drawings, atmospheres, or optical illusions, as seen in their previous works like "Reading Between the Lines" and "Labyrint."

At Herkenrode, this methodology renders absence spatially tangible. Visitors navigate a reconstructed void where the essence of the architecture endures as an outline, transforming heritage into an active dialogue between what remains, what has disappeared, and what can still be imagined. The CLAUSURA project is being executed in three phases, with the initial and most extensive phase scheduled to debut on June 18th, 2026. This initiative not only brings a forgotten past to life but also highlights the studio's profound engagement with themes of reconstruction, erosion, and architectural memory, offering a powerful reflection on the ephemeral nature of built environments.

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