The Athens Heritage Hub participated in the conference “Wood and Clay: Architectural Heritage, Construction Methods, and Applications in the Balkans”, organised by ‘Piliko’ in Filiatra, Greece, from September 20-22. Experts from Greece and other Balkan countries joined discussions on architectural heritage and led a three-day hands-on workshop on the art of wattle and daub.
The three-day workshop was held in the courtyard of a vernacular timber-framed house, located in the center of Filiatra, in Peloponnese. Under the guidance of four invited expert architects from Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, the participants experimented with building techniques using raw clay, wood, and other natural materials. The aim of the action was to explore the potential of traditional and modern timber-framing techniques and to approach the contemporary aesthetic and technical performances of the natural materials used in this technique.
Participants in the workshop engaged with the materials and then experimented shaping the plasters with carving effects, color, and surface roughness. The collective creative design was inspired by the local decorative motifs.
In parallel with the practical part of the workshop, presentations and talks were held as part of a two-day conference titled “Wood and Clay: Architectural Heritage, Construction Methods, and Applications in the Balkans,” with the participation of academics and expert scientists from Greece and other Balkan countries. Dr. Stavroula Thravalou, coordinator of the Athens Heritage Hub presented how heritage actors across the Balkans can network with peers and share their knowledge through capacity building workshops and activities in the framework of the European heritage Hub.
The outcomes of the workshop were presented at the Kyparissia Folklore Museum. The exhibition also included photographic material and natural exhibits on the use of natural materials—soil, reed, wood, straw, stone—in contemporary architectural creation and the impact of their application on the natural environment.
The goals of these events were to:
- Highlight a distinctive architectural style found in the region of Western Peloponnese and compare it with similar techniques from the broader Balkan area.
- Explore contemporary artistic perspectives of these techniques and natural materials.
- Understand the properties of the materials used in a timber-framed construction and how they behave through their interaction.
- Identify and understand the similarities and differences in traditional timber-framing techniques across the Balkans.
- Enrich environmental education and the concept of sustainability.
Overall, the action aims to promote the broader use of natural/local materials such as clay, reeds, straw, and stone for use in contemporary architectural and artistic interventions, replacing conventional materials with a high energy footprint, such as cement or aluminum. This will help reduce the environmental impact caused by CO2 emissions from the extraction, transportation, and processing of conventional materials.
The event was organised with the financial support and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Municipality of Trifylia, in Greece.
