The project ‘Hidden cultural identities that reappear through water networks’ (CULTURAL H.ID.RA.N.T) aimed to re-introduce Hadrian’s Aqueduct from the Roman period to the contemporary urban life of Halandri in Athens, in order to raise awareness on local cultural and natural heritage and contribute to citizens’ wellbeing.
MedINA collaborated with the Municipality of Halandri, as the project coordinator, together with six other partners: EYDAP S.A., the Panteion University Institute of Regional Development, the architectural and urban planning company Thymio Papayannis and Associates Inc. (TPA), the collaborative design team Commonspace Co-op, the “Ohi Paizoume” (UrbanDig Project) team and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Eastern Attica.
Through a series of interrelated activities, the Cultural H.ID.RA.N.T. project aimed to strengthen mnemonic dimensions in urban public space, to contribute to the conservation and cultivation of local cultural wealth, to enhance walkability and access to quality green spaces and to focus on a peripheral municipality that suffers from weak heritage branding in comparison to the historic centre of Athens.
MedINA was in charge of creating a local archive that sheds light on the tangible and intangible aspects of Hadrian’s Aqueduct as a common source of heritage in the area, together with an online platform that hosts the archive and tells its story in a simple and meaningful way, in an attempt to engage residents and other users alike. As a final step, the archive passed into the hands of the local community. In addition, a local HIDRANT Festival was collectively organised, in order to promote and celebrate Hadrian’s Aqueduct and its heritage value as an integral part of the municipality’s history.