Project Title: Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s Post-war Reconstruction Agendas in Greece and in Italy: Centralising and Decentralising the Political Apparatus
Acronym: C.D.A.O.P.R.A.
Project Number: 7833
The research project was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “3rd Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Post-Doctoral Researchers” (Project Number: 7833)
Host Institution: Athens School of Fine Arts
Principal Investigator: Dr. Marianna Charitonidou
Project Summary: This project is placed within a network of studies that aim to shed light on the complex relationships between the Cold War policies including the European Recovery Program (ERP), known as Marshall Plan, on the one hand, and architecture and urbanism, on the other hand. Its main objective is to provide a precise and deep understanding of how architecture and urban planning, which are related to the Marshall plan politics, contributed to the formation of national identity in both Greece and Italy. Within this context, the study places much importance on the interplay between urban planning and politics. In other words, this research is built upon the general understanding that the Marshall Plan played a crucial role in the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War. Architecture and urban planning were very important in this respect. A starting point for the project is the identification of certain key players regarding the connection between the politics of the Marshall Plan and agendas for urban planning, such as those of Constantinos A. Doxiadis (1913-1975) and the Italian industrialist Adriano Olivetti (1901-1960). In parallel, the project springs from the observation that a couple of monographic studies related to similar research topics have been conducted, but that there are as yet no comparative studies providing a clear understanding of how certain key players in both politics and urban planning, like Doxiadis and Olivetti, contributed to the formation of national identity in different national contexts. The project aims to clarify how Doxiadis and Olivetti conceptualized technocracy and its relation to politics and urban planning in different ways, how they contributed to the different respective trajectories in which Greece and Italy respectively ended up, while using the Marshall Plan for their reconstruction after the Second World War.
Scientific publications, papers, seminars, lectures and events based on the research project entitled “Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s Post-war Reconstruction Agendas in Greece and in Italy: Centralising and Decentralising the Political Apparatus” I conducted as Principal Investigator at Athens School of Fine Arts with the support by the Hellenic Foundation of Research and Innovation:
2 Books
Marianna Charitonidou, Reinventing Modern Architecture in Greece: From Sentimental Topography to Ekistics (London, New York: Routledge, 2025) [it will be released on 15 April 2025]. ISBN 9781032798493. 238 Pages 63 B/W Illustrations
Μαριάννα Χαριτωνίδου, Ο αρχιτεκτονικός και πολεοδομικός σχεδιασμός ως μετασχηματισμός της κοινωνίας στη σκέψη του Κωνσταντίνου Δοξιάδη και του Adriano Olivetti: Μεταξύ εντοπίας και συγκεκριμένης ουτοπίας (Αθήνα, 2024). ISBN 9786180056112. 124 σελίδες
Marianna Charitonidou, Architectural and Urban Planning as a Transformation of Society in the Thought of Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti: Between Entopia and Concrete Utopia (Athens, 2024). ISBN 9786180056112. 124 pages
Several peer-reviewed articles, papers and chapters, presentations at international conferences, lectures and seminars
Marianna Charitonidou, “The Role of Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti in Reconstruction: Around their Vision of Postwar Reconstruction and Planning”, in Pina Ciotoli, ed., War is (not) Over. Destruction and Reconstruction of Urban Theaters of War, 1945-2025 (Rome: Campisano Editore, 2025).
Μαριάννα Χαριτωνίδου. 2024. ΗδιαμόρφωσητηςπροσέγγισηςτουΚωνσταντίνουΔοξιάδηαπότηνπερίοδοτηςανασυγκρότησηςμέχριτηνπερίοδοτουενδιαφέροντοςτουγιατηνοικολογικήισορροπία/The Formation of Constantinos Doxiadis’ Approach from the Period of Reconstruction to the Period of his interest in ecological balance. InScience, pp. 1-22, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/a3sxz-fgc50URL: https://inscience.gr/2024/12/21/i-diamorfosi-tis-proseggisis-tou-konstantinou-doxiadi-apo-tin-periodo/
Μαριάννα Χαριτωνίδου. 2024. Η Σχέση Πολιτικής και Σχεδιασμού στην Πρακτική και στη Σκέψη του Adriano Olivetti/The Relationship between Politics and Design in the Practice and Thought of Adriano Olivetti. InScience: 1-17, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/rrwzb-j8h27 URL: https://inscience.gr/2024/11/23/i-sxesi-politikis-kai-sxediasmou-stin-praktiki-kai-sti-skepsi-tou-adriano-olivetti/
Μαριάννα Χαριτωνίδου. 2024. H Σχέση Πόλης και Πολιτικής κατά την Ψυχροπολεμική Περίοδο στην Ελλάδα και στην Ιταλία: H Αντίληψη της Μεταπολεμικής Ανασυγκρότησσης των Κωνσταντίνου Α. Δοξιάδη και Adriano Olivetti/The Relationship between City and Politics during the Cold War Period in Greece and Italy: The Perception of Postwar Reconstruction by Konstantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti. InScience, pp. 1-19, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/p815v-jmk05 URL: https://inscience.gr/2024/01/26/i-sxesi-polis-kai-politikis-kata-tin-psixropolemiki-periodo/
Marianna Charitonidou, “Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s role in reshaping the relationship between politics and urban planning”, στο Marianna Charitonidou, Drawing and Experiencing Architecture: The Evolving Significance of City’s Inhabitants in the 20th Century (Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2022), 211-230, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839464885-009 ISBN 978-3-8376-6488-1 URL: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783839464885-009/html?srsltid=AfmBOooQ_xDMiWdJhAaNEPIgfb1OotaOWwFBd9yipKroAACtINYprBTB
doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003372080-4
24-28 June 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Urban planning methods as tangible and intangible expression in Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s approaches: Revisiting their work via the lenses of urban-scale digital twins”, 6th International Conference on “Changing Cities” Spatial, Design, Landscape, Heritage and Socio-Economic dimensions, Rhodes Island, Greece. This paper was part of the special session “ΜΝΕΜΕ: Tangible and intangible expressions, the relationship with place identity and sustainable planning & development” chaired by Assoc. Prof. Elena Konstantinidou & Em. Prof. Konstantinos Moraitis
Marianna Charitonidou, “Urban planning methods as tangible and intangible expression in Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s approaches: Revisiting their work via the lenses of urban-scale digital twins”, in Aspa Gospodini, ed., Proceedings of the International Conference on Changing Cities VI: Spatial, Design, Landscape, Heritage & Socio-economic Dimensions (Thessaly: University of Thessaly, 2024), 459-468, https://doi.org/10.17613/3045m-h9j61 ISSN: 2654-0460 ISBN: 978-618-5765-02-6
25 June 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Urban Scale Digital Twins, Sustainable Tourism and Resilience: Sustainability, Ecology and Ekistics in Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s Approaches to Urban Planning”, 6th International Conference on “Changing Cities” Spatial, Design, Landscape, Heritage and Socio-Economic dimensions, Rhodes Island, Greece. This paper was part of the special session “Tourism Resilience and Environmental Transformations: New Challenges for Cultural and Socio-economic Sustainability”.
The research project was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “3rd Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Post-Doctoral Researchers” (Project Number: 7833)
Seminar
5 June 2024 Ι was invited to deliver a seminar “Artificial intelligence, digital universalism and urban governance: The digital twins of urban scale and the ‘entopia’ of Konstantinos Doxiadis” at the Department of Social Anthropology of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences
Link with announcement about the seminar
Invited Lecture
3 June 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s Urban Politics vis-à-vis Urban Morphology Debates”, lecture delivered in the framework of Urban Morphology Course, Master’s Degree Architecture (Conservation), Faculty of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome
24-26 May 2024 My paper entitled “Digital universalism, Ecumenopolis and urban governance in the thought of Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti: Urban-scale digital twins and ethical issues of artificial intelligence and big data in urban ethnography” was presented at the 2nd Conference of the Association of Social Anthropologists Greece (SKAE)
17-21 April 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Constantinos A. Doxiadis’ Concept of ‘Ecumenopolis’ and Eurafrica: The Masterplan for FESTAC Town and Intersectional Theory”, Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) 2024 Annual International Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Keynote Talk at the 2nd International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction (ICTAC 2024), University of Chandigarh, University of Florence, University Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool
9 April 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Urban governance and rural-urban fringe in the post-war reconstruction agenda of Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti: Centralized and decentralized political apparatuses in architecture and urban planning”, 2nd International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction (ICTAC 2024), University of Chandigarh, University of Florence, University Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool
9 April 2024 Marianna Charitonidou , “Transatlantic Exchanges and the Evolution of Urban Studies: Ekistics, Concrete Utopia and Urbanism as Actor of Change in the Work of Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti”, 2nd International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction (ICTAC 2024), University of Chandigarh, University of Florence, University Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool
9 April 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Doxiadis Associates’ Understanding of the Role of Infrastructure in Urban Planning: Ekistics, Ecumenopolis and the Regional Plan for Lagos State”, 2nd International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction (ICTAC 2024), University of Chandigarh, University of Florence, University Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool
Marianna Charitonidou, “Doxiadis Associates’ Understanding of the Role of Infrastructure in Urban Planning: Ekistics, Ecumenopolis and the Regional Plan for Lagos State”, in Anurag Varma, Vikas Chand Sharma, Elena Tarsi, eds., Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction: ICTAC-2024; 9 April, Chandigarh, India (Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2024), 549-569, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4988-1_32 This volume is part of the Springer Series Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering (LNCE) Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-97-4987-4 Softcover ISBN: 978-981-97-4990-4 eBook ISBN: 978-981-97-4988-1
Invited Lecture
21 March 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Ekistics and Urban Space in Constantinos A. Doxiadis’s Theory: Public Space from the Ancient Greek City to the First Declaration of Delos”, lecture delivered at the University of Lausanne
Podcast
Link to hear the Podcast
8–9 March 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “CITY BRANDING, RECREATION, AND CARE VIS-À-VIS CONSTANTINOS DOXIADIS’S ENTOPIA AND ADRIANO OLIVETTI’S CONCRETE UTOPIA: URBAN SCALE DIGITAL TWINS AND HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS IN TOURISM AND HERITAGE STUDIES”, 1st INTOCUS International Conference “Tourism and Cultural Heritage: Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation”, Harokopio University (GR), Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (FR), University of The Aegean (GR)
Marianna Charitonidou, “City Branding, Recreation, and Care vis-à-vis Constantinos Doxiadis’s Entopia and Adriano Olivetti’s Concrete Utopia: Urban Scale Digital Twins and Health, Environmental and Social Aspects in Tourism and Heritage Studies”, in Paris Tsartas, Theano S. Terkenli, Maria Gravari-Barbas, Sofoklis Skoultsos, eds., 1st INTOCUS International Conference: Tourism and Cultural Heritage: Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation. Proceedings: 8th and 9th of March 2024 (Athens: International Master’s programme in Sustainable Tourism Development: Heritage, Environment, Society, 2024), 68-79, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/r16aq-96c13
16 February 2024 Marianna Charitonidou, “Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s Urbanism vis-à-vis Sustainable Planning: The Ekistic Grid and the Role of Urban Scale Digital Twins in Urban Planning Practices”, presentation at the 1st OPEN-AIR CITIES International Conference “Local and Regional Sustainable Development and Urban Reconstruction”, Harokopio University, Athens
Publication of the paper in the Proceedings of the aforementioned conference: Marianna Charitonidou, “Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s Urbanism vis-à-vis Sustainable Planning: The Ekistic Grid and the Role of Urban Scale DIgital Rwins in Urban Planning Practices”, in Roido Mitoula, ed., 1st Open-Air Cities International Conference “Local and Regional Sustainable Development and Urban Reconstruction. Proceedings (Athens: Open-Air Cities Institute, 2024), 1213-1223, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/r30tm-ywb26 ISBN: 978-618-87070-1-6
13 September 2023 I co-chaired a session entitled “From the Urban Vision of Radical Architecture to the Debates around Sustainable Cities and Big Data: Reconciliating the study of the historical city and the design of radical architecture and urban planning” with Giusi Ciotoli at this year’s Italian Association of Urban History Conference at the University of Ferrara. Our session was held at 12:00 on 13 September 2023.
Website of the conference: https://aisuinternational.org/ferrara-2023-ferrara/
30 – 31 March 2023 Marianna Charitonidou, “Constantinos Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s urban politics and democracy: Ekistics as condisciplinary science and communities as concrete utopias”, presentation at the Urban History Group Conference 2023 “Recovery and the City“, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Conference website: https://urbanhistorygroup.wordpress.com/conference-2023/
10–13 November 2022 Marianna Charitonidou, “Towards a critique of technocracy in the thought of Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti: Democracy, urban sociology and Marshall Plan politics”, παρουσίαση εισήγησης στο διεθνές επιστημονικό συνέδριο 19th Annual Historical Materialism conference “Facing the Abyss: An Epoch of Permanent War and Counterrevolution”, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, United Kingdom, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/w9efy-mgt09
Conference website: https://www.historicalmaterialism.org/facing-the-abyss-an-epoch-of-permanent-war-and-counterrevolution/
Μαριάννα Χαριτωνίδου, «H σχέση πολεοδομίας και πολιτικής στη σκέψη του Κωνσταντίου Α. Δοξιάδη και του Adriano Olivetti: Πολεοδομικός σχεδιασμός και Eυρωπαϊκό Πρόγραμμα Ανάκαμψης», στο Γεωργία Γεμενετζή, Σπύρος Νιαβής, Αναστασία Τασοπούλου, επ., Πρακτικά από το 6ο Πανελλήνιο Συνέδριο Πολεοδομίας, Χωροταξίας & Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης, «Χωρικός και Αναπτυξιακός Σχεδιασμός: Προκλήσεις και Ευκαιρίες, 29 Σεπτεμβρίου – 2 Οκτωβρίου 2022 (Βόλος: Τμήμα Μηχανικών Χωροταξίας, Πολεοδομίας και Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης, 2023), 1433-1446, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/171df-71536 ΙSSN: 2945-0578 ISBN: 978-618-5765-00-2
9 September 2022 My paper “Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s conception of urbanism and urban public space: The role of the Marshall Plan in the post-war reconstruction in Greece and Italy” was presented at the session 1.18 “Spazio pubblico ed estetica urbana nelle città del secondo dopoguerra: ricostruzione, trasformazione e innovazione” in the framework of the X Congresso ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA DI STORIA URBANA (AISU) in Turin
Marianna Charitonidou, “Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Adriano Olivetti’s Conception of Urbanism and Urban Public Space”, in Rosa Tamborrino, ed., Città che si adattano?/Adaptive Cities? Volume 1 (Turin: AISU International, 2024), 508-521, doi: https://doi.org/10.17613/m9kb-x687 ISBN 978-88-31277-09-9
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Dr. Marianna Charitonidou 