Gerani | Social + Political Story of Migration

Realizing that the neighborhood of Gerani would become my area of focus in Athens, I began to explore the urban condition of rooftops within the area. Similar to how I had looked at Hong Kong's rooftop communities in Sham Shui Po through the lens of 'the social and political story of migration,' I chose to do the same for Athens. A brief timeline can be seen below:

What the analysis showed is that the majority of immigrants into and out of Greece pre-2000's was Albanians and other nationalities from the Balkan region. Most of these were refugees or immigrants trying to flee the communist regimes in the areas. However, the makeup of immigrants changed when Athens decided to accept the Olympic Bid to host the 2004 Summer Games. The games brought a dire need for construction workers and skilled labor, creating a change in visa policy and an influx of Middle Eastern, Pakistani, and Indian immigrants. These immigrants tended to live together and one such area of the city they chose to occupy was Gerani. The area of Gerani is located between the Akrpolis and Ommonia Square, within the original triangle of historic Athens. Today, the area of Gerani remains highly occupied by immigrants and contains high drug usage making it unsafe to travel to post-3 or 4 pm. But it is also here, amongst the immigrants and the social turmoil, that one finds the wonderment of the rooftop living.