Open House Athens is once again supporting as media sponsor the ESO Conference for Architecture & Design that returns in Athens Concert Hall on May 7, 2025 under the theme “EMBRACING CHAOS IN A SMART WORLD”.
Book now your tickets, here!
“Technology is the answer…but what was the question?”
– Cedric Price, 1966
As the world moves towards smarter, more interconnected urban environments, the role of architects and urban planners is more critical than ever.
How can design research utilize technology to address, challenge, or interact with broader social and environmental issues, ultimately driving positive transformation in our world?
In a smart world defined by rapid technological advancements—such as AI-driven systems, IoT, and sustainable building technologies—architecture is increasingly intertwined with digital innovation that is reshaping how we live, work, and interact with our environments.
This evolving landscape presents architects with a unique challenge: What kind of spaces do we want to create?
“Embracing Chaos in a Smart World” highlights the idea of leveraging unpredictability, organic growth, and flexible design principles in environments increasingly defined by automation, data, and precision. In architecture and urban design, chaos doesn’t imply randomness or disorganization but rather embracing complexity, adaptability, and innovative problem-solving.
Designing for uncertainty does not mean abandoning order or planning; rather, it involves creating systems, structures, and spaces that can adapt to changing conditions without losing their core functionality or aesthetic value.
This approach encourages a shift from designing for permanence to designing for flexibility, from rigid forms to dynamic systems.
The “Embracing Chaos in a Smart World” conference offers a unique platform for professionals to explore new ideas, learn from leading experts, and collaborate on solutions that will shape the future of our cities.
What does it mean to design in a world defined by chaos and complexity?
Adaptive Architecture
Buildings and urban spaces are designed to adapt to different uses, conditions, and needs over time. This includes modular designs, movable walls, reconfigurable spaces, and smart materials that respond to environmental changes.The aim is to create structures that can evolve with changing demands, whether due to population shifts, climate impacts, or technological advancements.
Resilience and Redundancy
Resilient design involves creating structures that can withstand shocks—whether from natural disasters, economic disruptions, or technological failures—without collapsing. Redundancy ensures that if one system fails, another can take over.
Data-Driven Design
In a smart world, data is a powerful tool for navigating uncertainty. By leveraging real-time data from sensors, IoT devices, and AI systems, architects can create buildings and urban environments that are responsive to current conditions.
Sustainable and
Regenerative Design
Sustainability is a critical component of designing for uncertainty. Buildings and cities must not only minimize their environmental impact but also be regenerative—actively contributing to the health of their ecosystems.
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The speakers
Katerina Karagianni – Architect & Co-Founder of KKMK Architects
Katerina Karagianni studied architecture at the National Technical University of Athens, where she was admitted with a scholarship.
After graduating in 2007, she pursued postgraduate studies in “Master in Advanced Architecture” at IAAC in Barcelona. During her time there, she collaborated with some of the most prominent figures in architecture, including Bjarke Ingels, Michel Rojkind, and Neil Denari. Her research focused on building self-sufficiency, sustainability in architecture, digital design, and digital fabrication, areas she later integrated into her architectural practice.
She worked as an architect in various offices in Athens until 2017, when she co-founded KKMK Architects with Marina Karamali. The firm is involved in a wide range of projects, including residential, hospitality, office spaces, and special constructions at different scales. Her architectural style blends elements of futurism, modernism, and traditional forms, depending on the specific requirements of each project.
Check out KKMK new office space here!
Mara Papavasileiou – Architect & Co-Founder of micromega
Mara Papavasileiou is an architect and co-founder of the architecture firm micromega.
She studied architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and at ENSAP Belleville in Paris. In 2011, she was awarded a scholarship by the French Embassy in Greece to attend the Master’s Program “Strategies Territoriales et Urbaines” at Sciences Po in Paris, ας she was keen to explore the sociopolitical implications of urban decisions over design. She has worked in Athens and Paris in architectural and urban design firms, including Tombazis Architects, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, k-studio, and Attitudes Urbaines.
In 2016, together with Alexandros Zomas, she founded micromega architecture & strategies. The firm’s name reflects their approach to architecture: considering all scales simultaneously – from the “mega” scale of strategic planning to the “micro” scale of materiality and human experience. Each project’s context, its unique identity, its intended users, and the methods of construction and resource management are pivotal decisions shaping the final outcome and defining each project’s distinct character.
The firm’s early years were marked by participations and distinctions in architectural competitions, and since then, they have developed a diverse portfolio of projects, including residential and hospitality buildings, public and educational facilities.
Check out the Double Skin – Triplex at Phychiko by micromega, here!
Aude Mazelin – Architect & Founder of Mykonos Architects
Aude Mazelin is the founder of Mykonos Architects, a boutique architecture and design firm specializing in high-end residential and hospitality projects on the iconic island of Mykonos and across Greece. With a deep passion for harmonizing modern aesthetics with traditional Cycladic architecture, Mazelin’s work reflects a commitment to creating timeless spaces that blend seamlessly with their natural surroundings.
Educated in France and with international experience in architecture and design, Mazelin founded Mykonos Architects with the vision of delivering bespoke solutions tailored to each client’s unique lifestyle and needs. The firm is celebrated for its attention to detail, innovative use of local materials, and emphasis on sustainability, ensuring that every project respects the island’s heritage while offering contemporary luxury.
Under Mazelin’s guidance, Mykonos Architects has earned a reputation for excellence in designing villas, boutique hotels, and retreats that embody the essence of Mykonos living. The firm’s portfolio showcases a seamless integration of indoor and outdoor spaces, thoughtful use of natural light, and a restrained elegance that has become its hallmark.
Check out the project La Bergerie in Mykonos, by Mykonos Architects, here!
Chris Sharples – Founding Partner SHoP Architects
Chris Sharples is a founding partner of SHoP Architects, an acclaimed New York-based design practice recognized for its innovative and technology-driven approach.
Known for projects like the Barclays Center and 111 West 57th Street, Sharples has shaped architectural discourse by merging cutting-edge technology with bold design. His expertise spans large-scale urban developments, cultural spaces, and sustainable design, earning SHoP numerous awards, including the National Design Award from Cooper Hewitt. Sharples is also a lecturer and advocate for forward-thinking architectural education.
Chris Sharples, a founding partner of SHoP Architects, has profoundly influenced modern architecture through his integration of technology, sustainability, and design. SHoP’s award-winning projects, such as the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and 111 West 57th Street in Manhattan, exemplify Sharples’ vision for transformative urban spaces. Under his leadership, SHoP received the National Design Award from Cooper Hewitt for advancing innovative building practices. Beyond design, Sharples is a passionate educator, frequently lecturing on architecture’s evolving role in addressing social, environmental, and technological challenges. With a focus on adaptive, community-centered designs, his work exemplifies the future of architectural practice. Sharples continues to redefine urban landscapes through impactful projects that balance technical excellence with artistic vision.
Anna Dyson– Hines Professor of Architecture at Yale University
Anna Dyson is the Hines Professor of Sustainable Architectural Design at Yale University, where she also serves as a professor at the Yale School of the Environment.
She is the founding director of the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (CEA), focusing on integrating energy, water, and material systems into architectural design. Renowned for her pioneering research, Dyson holds multiple international patents and has received numerous awards for her innovations in sustainable building systems, exhibited globally at venues like MoMA and WFES.
Anna Dyson is a leading figure in sustainable architecture, holding the Hines Professorship of Architecture at Yale University and a professorship at the Yale School of the Environment. She founded the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (CEA), dedicated to developing integrated systems for energy, water, and material efficiency in buildings. Dyson’s extensive research has earned her numerous international patents and over 20 awards, including the Architectural Record Innovator Award. She previously founded the Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology (CASE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Dyson’s work, exhibited internationally at MoMA and WFES, addresses the urgent need for sustainable and adaptable building practices amidst evolving environmental challenges.
Beatriz Ramo – Founder & Director, STAR Strategies + Architecture
Beatriz Ramo (1979, Spain) graduated from the Technical School of Architecture in Valencia – ETSAV, in Spain.
In 2002 she received a scholarship to study at the Technische Universiteit in Eindhoven, moving to the Netherlands, where she has lived ever since. During 2003 and 2004 Beatriz Ramo worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture – OMA – in Rotterdam where she participated in – among other projects – the CCTV- China Central Television Headquarters and TVCC -Television Cultural Centre in Beijing, the Wyly Theatre in Dallas, the Invited Competition Mercati Generali in Rome, and the International Competition for the Railway Masterplan in Logroño, Spain.
In 2006 she founded STAR strategies + architecture in Rotterdam. STAR is a practice dealing with architecture in all its forms. STAR is interested in all topics directly or indirectly related to architecture, working on projects and doing research in the fields of architecture, urbanism, and landscape design. Several prizes in International Competitions for architecture and urban planning in the Netherlands, China, Iceland, Lebanon, Norway, and Spain have gained STAR international recognition. Since 2007 Beatriz Ramo is teaching at the Academy of Architecture in Tilburg where she ran a research/design studio in the framework of Architecture and Market, and a research/criticism studio called God Save Architecture. She has been guest tutor at the Master of Architecture, Landscape and Urban Design at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, and at the Master of Interior Architecture at the Sandberg institute in Amsterdam. Since 2010 she is a visiting critic of Stadslab, European urban design laboratory, where she tutored the special 2010 Master class in Ukraine.
Beatriz Ramo has lectured internationally on architecture in general and the work of STAR in particular, at the SCA in Buenos Aires, CCPE in Rosario, Architecture Club in Kiev, Chalmers School in Gothenburg, Elisava School in Barcelona, Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw, and at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Beatriz Ramo was twice awarded grants from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. She has collaborated with MONU magazine on urbanism from its first issue onwards, and since 2008 she is managing and contributing editor.
Julian Lipscombe – Director, Bennetts Associates
Julian has been at the heart of Bennetts Associates’ evolution during his 32 years with the practice.
Julian’s passions are in placemaking, humane architecture and communicating design to the general public. Amongst a broad range of skills, he has recognised expertise in masterplanning, workplace, transportation and sustainability. His seminal projects include JLR Global HQ in Warwickshire, strategic urban design commissions in Manchester and a series of projects in Greece and India. Julian leads the practice’s ‘People’ group and, whilst based in London, also oversees the Manchester studio that he established. He is an acknowledged public speaker with regular engagements in the UK and abroad.
Outside of work, Julian is a dedicated ParkRun-er and has spearheaded community projects connected to education and youth sport.
Ivi Nanopoulou – Architect – Manager, TPA Architects
Ivy Nanopoulou studied in Paris – at the École Spéciale d’ Architecture. She joined TPA as an associate, becoming a partner in 1987 and the firm’s managing partner in 1999. Since 2021, she presides the BoD. Exemplifying TPA’s holistic approach, Ivy manages the firm with commitment to its social role, quest for innovation and professional culture. Under her direction, TPA has extended its services into landscaping and urban design – undertaking complex, iconic international projects, such as the Athens Regeneration Project at Faliron, the Tae Kwon Do Olympic venue; the King Abdullah II Park in Amman; the “Greeks and the Sea” Cultural Park in Athens (1st prize); the cultural facilities of the Athens Conservatoire; the Amphitryon and Nafplia Palace listed hotels, in Nafplion.
Dimitris Poulios – Architect -Urban Planner, TPA Architects
Dimitris Poulios graduated with a master’s degree from the School of Architecture at the University of Thessaly in Volos (2010) and continued his postgraduate studies in the field of urban design at Cardiff University in the UK, with a scholarship from the Bodossaki Foundation. In 2021 he completed his PhD in the field of urban planning at the NTUA, as a scholar of the Onassis Foundation. He joined TPA in 2013 and has been a partner since 2019.
Andreas Karavanas – Senior Architect and Project Leader, OMA
Andreas Karavanas is a Senior Architect and Project Leader at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam, where he manages projects of varying scales and complexities. He studied Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), TU Berlin and the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam. Since joining OMA in 2016, Andreas has led several high-profile international projects. He is currently overseeing the remodeling and extension of the Egyptian Museum of Turin (from competition to construction), which was named one of the Most Anticipated Projects of 2024 by ArchDaily, along with the renovation of the Gallery of the Kings. His contributions to OMA also include major projects such as the Ministry of Defense HQ in Brussels, the Mangalem-21 a residential development in Tirana, the Dragon Project in Bangkok, the redevelopment of De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam, the Qatar Car Museum in Doha, and the Millennium Areal mixed-use development in Frankfurt.
Before joining OMA, Andreas was a lead architect at firms such as HUB Architects in Antwerp and Marwan in Rotterdam, while also maintaining his own practice, NORMo Studio. He has won several prizes in international competitions, both with OMA but also as an independent architect, including first prize in Europan 2011 in Vienna. Beyond his professional work, Andreas has contributed to architectural education as a lecturer and visiting critic at TU Delft, the Berlage Institute, NTUA Athens, and the University of Patras. He has also lectured internationally on architectural topics as well as the work of OMA.
Archisearch Lifetime Achievement Awards
During ESO 2025, the seventh Archisearch Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony will honour and highlight the life and work of Manos Perrakis (Architect), Kostas Tsoklis (Artist) and Dina Vaiou (Emeritus Professor, School of Architecture, NTUA).
The awards will be presented by Panagiotis Pangalos – architect (Ph.D), Professor in the University of West Attica and Professor on contract (Associated Educational Stuff) in the Greek Open University.
Manos Perrakis
Perrakis dedicated his life to theatre and its people, after he was called upon in 1970 to shape the New Stage of the National Theatre, and succeeded in doing so by proposing innovative solutions. Since then and until today, in a creative career spanning more than fifty years, he has designed, constructed from scratch or remodelled more than 30 theatre spaces of various kinds in pre-existing buildings: open theatres, closed theatres, with fixed or alternative arrangements, revolving theatres, even floating theatres, theatres in the urban fabric and in the natural landscape. He creates in constant dialogue with those architects before him who have studied similar issues, but also with his contemporaries, both his peers and theatre people, who usually set the requirements and will be the final recipients of his work. His work has been and remains a valuable gift to all theatre lovers, both anonymous and anonymous, as the audience and their experience were placed by him at the heart of the design.
Costas Tsoclis
Costas Tsoclis, a Greek artist, studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1948-1954) in the studio of Yannis Moralis. He continued in Rome on a scholarship from the I.K.Y. (1957-1960) where he participated in Gruppo Sigma together with Vlassis Kaniaris, Yannis Gaitis, Nikos Kessanlis and Dimitris Kontos. In 1960 he moved to Paris and in 1967 he met Michael and Ileana Sonnabend, owners of the “Ileana Sonnabend” Gallery, who supported him to succeed. In 1971-1972 he lived, worked and exhibited in Berlin, having received the German DAAD scholarship. In 1973 he began his collaboration with Alexandros Iolas. He experienced at close quarters the movements of contemporary art that shaped its physiognomy in the second half of the century (pop art, neo-realism, arte povera, conceptual art, etc.) He became familiar with the modern trends in European art, which he managed to interpret in a personal way through his own artistic proposals.
His work gained international acclaim from the late 1960s when he began to exhibit his perspective “Objects”. Since then he has continued to experiment systematically with various media of expression, painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, construction, video, performance, light and sound, seeking new ways of approaching objects, nature, myths and social problems. In 1986 he represented Greece at the Venice Biennale. He presents the works “Perched Fish” and “Portraits” where the real figures of his models were projected on the painted paintings, which, with their almost imperceptible movements, gave the work the feeling of real life. This way of artistic expression was called Living Painting by international critics.
He has presented his works in more than one hundred and twenty solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad. In Greece in galleries, galleries and museums such as Athens Hilton Art Gallery, Zoumboulakis Gallery, Desmos Art Gallery, Pierides Gallery, Macedonian Centre for Contemporary Art, Lola Nikolaou Gallery, Astrolavos Art Gallery, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Frissiras Museum, Cyclades Gallery, Benaki Museum, Peter and Marika Kydonieos Foundation, Athens Concert Hall, B & M Theocharakis Foundation, etc. He has also participated in a large number of group exhibitions and important international events in Greece and abroad, such as the Paris Biennale (1963, 1965), the São Paulo Biennale (1965), the Documenta in Kassel (1975), etc. His works are in many public and private collections. He has created works for public spaces, including a large installation “Underground Park” for the Athens Metro Station “National Defence” and the work “Python” at the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. He was awarded in 2003 by the Academy of Athens, while in 2004 the President of the
Dina Vaiou
Dina Vaiou is Emeritus Professor at the National Technical University of Athens (Department of Urban and Regional Planning), where she taught spatial analysis, urban planning and gender studies. For many years she was director of the interdepartmental postgraduate programme “Urban and Spatial Planning” and coordinator of the Erasmus network “Gender and Geography”.
Her research and published work focuses on the feminist critique of the study of the city, the changing characteristics of local labour markets, with an emphasis on the functions of the informal sector, the effects of migration, especially women’s migration, in Southern European cities, and in particular in Athens.
Her research interests, publications in Greece and abroad and conference presentations include: a) the feminist critique of spatial development, with particular emphasis on the private/public distinction, the gendered division of labour and gendered differentiations in access to and use of space and time, b) local labour markets as an axis for the interpretation of urban and peripheral development, with particular emphasis on informal forms of production and labour and the gendered division of labour, c) the effects of European integration on women in the European South, in relation to the above two axes and d) the changes in urban space, resulting from the mass settlement of migrants in Greek cities, as well as in other cities of Southern Europe.
She has published a large number of articles and books in Greece and abroad. She is a member of many scientific groups and associations (including SADAS) and has served on the editorial board of the journals European Planning Studies, Gender, Place and Culture, European Journal of Women’s Studies, Antipode, Social and Cultural Geography, Geographies.
Visit the renewed ESO website here!
photo: Afroditi Houlaki
