Obsolescence and reuse are the focus of the Afterlives studio. Architecture is often imagined as a process of formation, of construction — architecture’s debut. The other end of the process is often overlooked — its demise. What happens to architecture after its uses change, and its occupants move out, and the technology shifts, and no one cares for it anymore? What happens to architecture after it is rendered obsolete? The notion of obsolescence is integrally tied to notions of modernity and progress. Demolition is the corollary to construction, just as obsolescence is the flip side of modernity. Architectural historian Daniel Abramson argues that obsolescence is integral to understanding architecture under capitalism. Architecture is recast not only as a means of wealth creation as a real estate commodity, but also as a depreciating asset. Modernity also relies on the concept of obsolescence as an essential component of process.

The Ellinikon Terminal in Athens, designed by Eero Saarinen, operated for 44 years before being rendered obsolete in 2001. Saarinen designed the Athens terminal building shortly after the TWA Terminal at JFK (1962) and Dulles Airport outside Washington DC (1962). The Ellinikon terminal was designed as a modern Pergamon Altar for the jet age. Drawing from classical models, Saarinen sketched a raised platform rising from the “landside” of the airport and gesturing to the runways as a viewing deck from which to wave to arriving planes and catch a glimpse of the future.

The Ellinikon Airport is currently being redeveloped as a 1,500-acre mixed-use coastal park and neighborhood including residential, commercial, and sports facilities by LAMDA Development. The Afterlives studio scenario involves the speculative reuse of the Saarinen Terminal building as the future home of the new Museum of Design Athens (MODA).

The founders of MODA see design as a transformational force within culture. Design shapes ways of thinking about the world, actively, as an activity of imagining alternative worlds. With this agenda in mind, the MODA will not be a passive museum for housing objects on pedestals, but rather a place to the exchange of ideas — prompted by the presence of design objects. A place for convening, for test driving concepts, making connections and for speculating on futures.

Students will work on proposals to transform the Saarinen terminal into a new type of cultural institution. Students will develop concepts for exhibitions and curatorial positions vis a vis the existing building, developing a parallel between the container and its contents. The studio includes travel to Athens, as well as local trips to the MIT Museum, its storage facility, and meetings with curators, exhibition designers, and historic preservation experts.

This studio is supported by Hellinikon S.M.S.A.