REVISIT

REVISIT

customizing tourism

Tourism brings people from different places to a common ground where they can experience the place of visit and interact with the locals. Architecture can reinforce the generation of such common grounds and orchestrate the interaction between visitors and hosts.

The conventional touristic entertainment character and the lack of local interaction alienate the notion of the common ground in most touristic destinations. Resorts, theme-parks, international hotel chains, global market icons and city guides turned tourism into a travelling ‘Monopoly' with global rules that are everywhere applicable.Common ground is at stake!

Since the foundation of the Republic of Cyprus, tourism has been one of the main pursuits in the governments and authorities' agenda as a factor for the country's economic growth. During the last decades both the public and the private sector in Cyprus have been closely committed to the development of leisure infrastructure for accelerating the greatest national economic generator: the touristic industry. These economic driven processes generated a gradual transformation of large urban and rural areas of Cyprus according to the demands of tourism. However, the lack of common ground between tourism and local urbanism in these areas as well as the decrease of rates related to tourism as a result of the global financial crisis raise a series of questions associated with sustainability and regeneration of Tourism in Cyprus. Can a city reuse vacant touristic infrastructures that remain unused for long periods of time or can tourists occupy them around the year? Instead of segregating built environment into urban and touristic areas (tourban) can local urbanism blend into tourbanism and vice-versa in favour of the generation of common grounds that both society and economy can benefit from? Can tourism become a factor for regenerating public space? Can rural areas become more actively associated with urban areas through the development of larger touristic networks?

REVISIT as an approach of Customizing Tourism aims to rethink the common ground between Visitors and Locals. At the same time it creates a think tank between the Architectural common ground of activity for articulating a general frame for discussion and revisits the use of Tourism for improving our built environment that offers an alternative mode of traveling and dwelling.

Visitors of the National Pavilion of Cyprus will have the opportunity to enter the country's stereotypical touristic scenery in order to witness alternative touristic experiences.

THE TOPICS

in architectural pursuit of common grounds

Within the conceptual frame of REVISIT four major topics are identified through analysis and documentation of the existing conditions of tourism and urbanization in Cyprus. The outcome of this analytical process for each topic is a synopsis identifying specific issues, setting specific questions and calling for different kinds of architectural and urban design projects: *urban-tourban symbiosis, *bursting the touristic bubble, *touristic defragmentation and *touristic archaeology. The topics are related to spatial conditions that vary in scales while some of the issues addressed are related to and overlaid in more than one topic. The final goal of the four topics is to focus on specific areas and conditions related to tourism and urbanity in Cyprus that can be revisited through architectural projects and proposals.

*URBAN-TOURBAN SYMBIOSIS

intrusion of urbanism into tourism and vice-versa

There is a disconnection between locals and tourists from which heterotopia emerges between urban and tourban areas. How can we bring locals in tourban areas and tourists in urban areas? How can urban and tourban intrude and blend into each other? Where and how can locals and tourists interact on a common ground?

*TOURISTIC DEFRAGMENTATION

overlaying a tourist network on an urban environment

The case of Nicosia clearly portrays the phenomenon of fragmented tourism in urban environment: the numbers of tourist accommodation units are limited while the popular tourist spots are disconnected. The city itself discourages tourist activity. Can we connect the dots in order to provide a more complete experience of the place? Can we overlay a tourist network over the city that will also provide a common ground for the public?

*TOURISTIC ARCHAEOLOGY

the city reoccupies and reuses tourist infrastructure

In a hypothetic scenario of a global collapse of tourism, Cyprus will be left with large deserted built environments that might resemble the deserted tourist zone of Famagusta which is under Turkish occupation. Can we invent alternative modes of tourism into these shell environments? Can we reinvent, reform, and reuse tourism infrastructure for purposes other than leisure and recreation?