The bilingual volume entitled “Avenue of the Society of Nations”. The well-known axis of Aristotelous in Thessaloniki focuses on the Greek participation in the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale. The emergence of this emblematic public space was Greece’s proposal, attempting to comment on the question posed by the exhibition’s main curator Hashim Sarkis “How we will live together?” Two parts of the exhibition were presented in parallel, at the Greek Pavilion in Venice and at the Bey Hammam Bath in the Aristotelous Square area of Thessaloniki.

The monumental axis of Aristotelous Square was originally named “Avenue of the Society of Nations” in the modern plan for the redesign of Thessaloniki after the fire of 1917, led by the French urban architect and archaeologist Ernest Hébrard, referring to the timeless multicultural and cosmopolitan character of the city.

The six-member teaching team of the Department of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (N. Kalogirou, M. Dousi, D. Thomopoulos, D. Kontaxakis, Th. Hatzigiannopoulos) has edited and presents a multi-year research on the urban composition of the Aristotelous axis, which aims to analyze and interpret the function of this public space, through the mapping and study of its architectural and urban form, its history, the social and cultural data related to its use, its presence over time, as well as its environmental function within the dense fabric of the historic center of Thessaloniki.