On the occasion of the September 2023 floods in the region of Thessaly, we were called to reflect on the role of architectural thought and practice after such a large-scale natural disaster. The way in which we, as architects, can act within an urban fabric that has suffered this kind of destruction is not at all clear to us. In searching for a starting point, we turned to the most obvious place: the settlement of Palaia. This is where the Krausidonas river ends, and where the consequences of the flooding were most severe.

The first step was to create a map that records the condition of the ground in the settlement of Palaia. Initially, the aim of our research was to study the area and redesign part of the settlement with a logic adapted to the likelihood of such phenomena.

However, through the map we created, we observed another very significant problem in the urban fabric after the bad weather had passed: the large amount of debris that was deposited. The process of removing this material is both time-consuming and costly. Thus, we considered that this presents an opportunity to utilize these materials on-site, by creating housing that follows the construction logic of rammed earth. Therefore, we arrive at a proposal for the reuse of these unexpectedly available materials.