MESROPMEGRABYANMESROP MEGRABYAN / PORTFOLIO 2012

EcoTHIRAA Vehicle Designed for the Island of Santorini

/S3 SCULPTURE

_SHoULd ALwAyS gIvE THE ImPRESSIon,

wHETHER CARvEd oR modELEd,

of HAvIng gRown oRgAnICALLy,

CREATEd by PRESSURE

Sculpture

-HEnRy mooRE (1958)

““

/S3 CONTENTS

SAnToRInI,GREEcE

SAnToRInI,GREEcE

/S3 HISToRy

Island of ATLAnTIS?

Considered by many to be the site of the mythi-cal island nation of Atlantis, Santorini has a long and interesting history, not the least of which was the catastrophic volcanic eruption that forever changed Mediterranean pre-history. Santorini was once a single, round island named Strongi-li, whose inhabitants were very influential in the region and shared many traits with the Minoans of Crete. Then, in about 1500 BC, the volcano beneath Strongili erupted with such force that the centre of the island became a huge sunken crater and the explosion caused tidal waves and freak weather conditions that some hold to be re-sponsible for the fall of the Minoan civilization. The eruption was one of the greatest ever in the earth’s history and its result was the creation of a huge underwater caldera ringed by islands. The volcano remains active and most recent-ly, it erupted in 1956, causing more hav-oc and sending the impregnable fortress of Rocca and its village plunging into the sea.In modern times, Santorini has been a quiet part of Greece, with the locals involved in fishing, agriculture, wine-making and cheese production. Tourism is Santorini’s main industry and thou-sands visit the island each year.

Santorinians are typically Greek in custom, wear-ing their emotions on their sleeves and gesturing wildly. Welcomes and goodbyes are particularly boisterous, with lots of handshaking, kissing and hugging. They live life to the fullest, taking plea-sure in daily activities such as eating and drinking. You’ll find Santorinian hospitality bordering on overwhelming at times, but the friendliness of the people will leave a lasting impression and bring back fond memories.

Part of the reason for Santorini’s popularity with tourists is its idyllic weather. There is rarely any rain and even in summer, the temperatures are not as hot as in other parts of the Mediterranean. Spring and summer skies are almost always cloud-less and deep blue, with the weather more change-able during the autumn and winter months. Temperatures range from a daily average of 29°C in summer to 12°C in winter. The humidity can be very high however, meaning the horizon is of-ten hazy, blocking views across the sea to Crete. Despite this, constant island breezes negate the sticky heat and make the majority of summer days quite comfortable, even when they get into the low to mid-30°Cs. Winter winds can be quite cool and temperature can drop to almost freezing at night.

cULTURE

cLIMATE

Santorini is located at of latitude of 36o 19 ‘56 to 36o 28’ 40 north and longitude from 25o 19 ‘22 to 25o 29’ 13 A East. The current semi-circular shape of the island derives due to volcanic eruptions that altered the original round shape of the island. The view from the side of the volcano is rocky and in contrast with the smoothness of its east parts. The surface of approximately 73 square kilometres, are mostly pumice very receptive to cultivation. Santorini has a humid climate. The perimeter of Santorini is approximately 36 nautical miles and has six bays. In general Santorini is dry, without lakes, rivers and ravines. The irrigation needs of the island cov-ered mainly by tankers which concentrate the Rainwater and wells. There are on the island three main

GEoGRAPHY

/S3 RESEARCH

Santorini has VERY narrow roads because they used to be donkey paths inside traditional vil-lages. Even after the 1956 earthquake, they just rebuilt houses in the same place. Cars, lorries, bicycles, motorcycles, quad bikes, motor scoot-ers and YOU the pedestrian all try and occupy the same small place at the same time. Gener-ally the locals are careful around motor scooters. Due to the high elevation from the sea, most roads are stepped, since they were designed as donkey roads.

RoAd CondITIonS

PRobLEmS dEfInEd

HIgHEST ACCIdEnT RECoRd In THE EURoPEAn UnIon

LACk LUSTER RoAd SAfETy LAwS

PoLICE do LITTLE AboUT EnfoRCIng TRAffIC LAwS

mUST ALwAyS dRIvE dEfEnSIvELy

RoUgH nARRow RoAdS, vILLAgE InTERIoR RoAdS RESEmbLE ASH fELTEd fARm TRACkS.

ConCEPTA VEHIcLE DESIGNED AND BUILT To BLEND INTo THE SANToRINI LANDScAPE.

Two PASSEngER ComPACT vEHICLE

SLIm fooTPRInT foR nARRow RoAd CondI-TIonS

SImPLE To oPERATE

mUST noT Look LIkE An AddITIon To THE ISLAnd

vEHICLE SHoULd ACCEnTUATE THE ISLAnd’S SCEnERy

HIgH gRoUnd CLEARAnCE foR UnEvEn RoAdS

SoLUTIonS dEfInEd

Most materials must be imported to the island. The lack of major resources is the main reason for this fac-tor. Because of the abundance of old beat up vehicles on the island, and government limit on the number of vehicles on allowed, recycling can be a large factor.

Santorini is a dry island and few natural resources. Some of which are very fertile soil and abundant supply of pumice

mATERIALS

nATURAL RESoRCES

A VEHIcLE DESIGNED AND BUILT To BLEND INTo THE SANToRINI LANDScAPE.

/S3 CoLoR

CoLoRTheory

THE RELATIonSHIP of vALUES, SATURATIonS And THE wARmTH oR

CooLnESS of RESPECTIvE HUES CAn

CAUSE noTICEAbLE dIffEREnCES In oUR

PERCEPTIon of CoLoR.

/S3 CONTENTS

WovenARCHITECTURE

/S3 EXTERIoR SURfACIng

Local ARCHITECTUREAESTHETICALLy oRgAnICSImPLE ARCH foR SUPPoRTSTRUCTURES bLEnd wITH THE EnvIRonmEnTInTER-ConnECTEd gRACE And RIgIdITy

Santorini Greece is characterized by its picturesque white painted villages on the top of impressively high cliffs. The main reason the inhabitants of Santorini were choosing areas so far away from the sea was the fear of the pirates. A village in Santorini is very similar to all the villages in most of the islands of the Cyclades: small white-painted houses with blue doors and windows divided by narrow streets.

/S3 IdEA

Idea PAd

UTILITARIAN DESIGN FUSES SoFT oRGANIc SURFAcING WITH ERGoNoMIc HUMAN cENTERED ENVIRoNMENT

DIREcTLY INSPIRED BY LocAL ARcHITEcTURE, THE VEHIcLE WILL BLEND INTo THE ENVIRoNMENT

/S3 gESTURE

PLAYFULgESTURE

/S3 InTRodUCIng

EcoTHIRA

/S3 PLAyfUL

/S3 ECo-THIRA

/S3 InTERIoR

EcoTHIRAInterior EnvIRonmEnT

Interior EnvIRonmEnT

Idea PAd

inspired by anoUTdooR LoUngE

inspired by anoUTdooR LoUngE

/S3 CONTENTS

colorTRIm“THE dE_SATURATEd HUESUSEd on THE SEATS ARE ComPLImEnTEd by A PoPof CoLoR fRom STITCHIng oR PIPIng”

colorTRIm

/S3 PILLowS

Stitch bySTITCH

/S3 CONTENTS

InteriorEnvIRonmEnT

/S3 SImPLE TAPE

A vEHICLE dESIgnEd AndbUILT To bLEnd InTo

THE SAnToRInI LAndSCAPE.

Thank you