Abstracts > Kaliopi AMYGDALOU_From architecture of emergency to emerging heritage: Challenges and potentials in reframing the spatial footprint of the 1923 Population Exchange.

Dr. Kalliopi Amygdalou

Senior Researcher / P.I. ERC StG HOMEACROSS, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy

The remains of refugee settlements in Greece are still in the process of becoming heritage – chiefly through the mobilisation of social groups and academics, to which official mechanisms and authorities respond more reluctantly. A series of factors have contributed to reframing of this built stock as heritage – among others, the fading away of the 1^st generation of refugees, the full integration of the next generations into Greek society, the destruction of the majority of the refugee housing, the re-appreciation of the welfare state in face of its (universal) retreat, etc. This presentation examines first the gradual transformation of the purpose of this architecture from replaceable infrastructure – an architecture of emergency - to a valued repository of collective memory and a bearer of multiple histories and meanings (Smith 2006, Harrison 2013). Within this context, it addresses a series of questions: which structures are included in this emerging legacy and can they be appreciated only as localised remains, detached from their material and natural surroundings? Are they representative of or exceptional to the experienced refugee condition (Kalman 2020)? And if this heritage is ultimately the product of a mutual and compulsory displacement, can it be considered as a post-conflict heritage with crossnational connections? As this process is still unfolding, this paper aims to conclude with suggestions regarding the heritagization process.