Aegina island located in the Saronic Gulf, just 35
minutes ride on hydrofoil or one-hour on the boat from the port of Pireaus.
An island that, despite all odds, has managed to maintain its unique identity
- still. Nevertheless, in the last 10-15 years, over-population, over-construction,
and over-consumption, has stripped the island of some of its most unique
natural, cultural and historic sites.
Aegina is also the site where many known or less-known Greek architects
have left their creative imprint: A. Constantinides, K. Dekavalas,
A. Tombazis, K. Tsipiras, Y. Makris, V. Douras,
T. Fotiou, I. Benesaya, D. Diamantopoulos, and many
others. Aegina is also known for its vernacular architecture, such as the
world-famous Alexandros Rodakis' house in Mesagros, built in 1880,
and Mailis & Brown House in downtown Aegina. Aegina, as the first capital
of modern Greece is also enriched by some unique Kapodistrian civic buildings,
such as the library, the archive and the orphanage (later prison).
Elias moved with his family to Aegina in 2003. He built a house in Plakakia,
which initially was intended to be a summer house, and moved in a year later.
Aegina is a unique place to live and work. It combines the comfort of modern
life - with some limitations, of course - with the authentic community and
untouched wilderness of the past. When visiting the town of Aegina, one
cannot but stop and say 'good morning' to almost eveyone in town. With a
registered (2002) population of 14,000 people in Aegina people still know
each other, people still talk to each other, people still feel the bonding
of a community. This is a very unique experience today, as the global village
is continuously expanding worldwide.
Elias has intitated in Aegina a number of projects, involving and benefiting
the local community:
(a) Elias was instrumental in starting a household waste
recycling program (campaign started in 2004 and program finally implemented
in May 2007).
(b) Elias has been instrumental in raising public awareness in environmental
issues through his articles in the free
press of the Saronic Islands (see Saronic news), and other local newspapers.
(c) Elias established the Ecoweek
events in Aegina in 2005, introducing to the local community concepts of
energy conservation, waste recycling and organic waste composting, and ecological
(or 'green') building.
Currently, Elias is investigating the community potential of Aegina island,
towards proposing a new model of local government, based on public participation.
This project-in-progress will be completed and published within the next
year.
Left: Sunrise at the port of Aegina
