The new International Exhibition and Congress Centre that will come about from the revitalisation of the existing TIF installations will be a catalyst for the growth of Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, and the Greek economy, an exhibition hub for the Mediterranean and Southeastern Europe, and perhaps the most important piece of infrastructure the city has gained since the regime changeover.

The revitalisation project has drawn the interest of the crème de la crème of leading architecture firms internationally, and its design will include the most modern developments in this sector, leading to the implementation of a bioclimatic construction project of the highest aesthetic value, respectful of the environment and the city, and which will harmoniously blend into the vision of the bodies and citizens for a Thessaloniki of the future.

The project includes the creation of an open green space of approximately 15 acres, suitable for recreation and outdoor cultural uses.

This green “lung” that the city is missing today, will radically tip the environmental scale in Thessaloniki for the better, providing approximately 50% of the current area for use by citizens of the city.

The TIF revitalisation project is the result of long-term planning, discussions, and fermentation with the governments and society at the time, from 2012 onwards, while its final form garnered the support of both the previous and current governments.

At the same time, the vast majority of the country’s political spectrum has repeatedly provided a “vote of confidence” to the current TIF revitalisation plan.

Furthermore, the Region of Central Macedonia, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, and all the productive and technical stakeholders of Thessaloniki and Northern Greece have given their support.

The citizens of Thessaloniki also warmly embraced it. In a survey carried out by ‘Interview’ on behalf of TIF-Helexpo in February 2013, 69.8% of citizens wanted the Fair to remain in the city centre and have

its installations revitalised, along with the creation of a metropolitan park.

In 2012-2013, in the middle of the financial crisis, the plan implemented by the Advice – BCS – Kantor joint venture, on purely technical-economic terms, underlined that keeping the TIF in central Thessaloniki and the revitalisation of the current exhibition centre, is the only sustainable solution, both for the national exhibition body, and for the city as a whole.

Moving it to Sindos and building the necessary infrastructure would require more than 500 million Euros in capital, while the cost of revitalising the current installations was calculated at about a third of that.

The plan in question concluded that the only implementable option was the revitalisation of the current, antiquated and highly energy consuming facilities, and the creation of a “green lung” and a new emblematic and blioclimatic Exhibition and Conference Centre in the city centre.

TIF-Helexpo partnered with the School of Spatial Planning and Development of AUTh and the Technical Chamber-Department of Central Macedonia, as well as with the Municipality of Thessaloniki, submitting in the summer of 2017 a request to pre-approve the Special Spatial Plan (SSP), which was provided by the General Secretariat of Spatial Planning and Urban Environment of the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

Following deliberations in March-May 2019, there was unanimous approval of the SSP and the Environmental Terms in April 2020 by the Council for Metropolitan Planning of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, while a Presidential Decree draft was signed by the Minister of Environment and Energy.

At the same time, the International Architectural Design Competition commenced and 15 architecture firms were selected to move on to the next phase. These firms come from the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Finland, and Kuwait.

There are up to 9 partnered Greek architecture firms in 7 of the 15 architectural teams.

The major international interest on the revitalisation is proven by the fact that there were 116 candidates from 33 countries and 5 continents in the pre-selection phase.

For reasons of transparency and for the promotion of the Competition under the highest quality and most stringent specification, the International Judging Panel consists of internationally acclaimed professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban

planning, while Joan Busquets, Spanish architect, urban planner, and Head Professor of Urban Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design is the President of the panel.

The BoD of TIF – HELEXPO SA, after 8 years of material deliberation with the state, city agencies, and society, believes that the Revitalisation of the TIF Exhibition Centre is the only sustainable, safe, and complete solution for the growth of Thessaloniki, the sustainability of the company, and the quality of life of the citizens of Thessaloniki.

22/12/2020 – 14:23

Dozens of leading architectural firms from around the world participated in the first phase of the International Architectural Design Competition for the revitalisation of the Thessaloniki Exhibition and Conference Centre. 15 of these firms were selected on 5 December to move on to the next phase.

The head architects of the 15 Contestants come from the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Finland, and Kuwait.

55 technical offices from 17 countries are participating in the selected groups, while 9 Greek technical offices or individual architects are participating in 7 of the 15 selected groups.

Furthermore, 222 engineers, of whom 55 are Greeks, are participating in the Competing project teams.

The Judging Panel made its decision based on the candidates’ capability and potential of providing design proposals that will combine the construction of an emblematic and modern exhibition and conference centre which will include a 15 acre urban park. This project will transform the centre of Thessaloniki, providing a new and unique landmark, improving the quality of citizens’ daily life from a bioclimatic perspective.

The fifteen Candidates who were selected are presented below in alphabetical order:

1. ALA ARCHITECTS (FI), MARELD LANDSKAPSARKITEKTER (SE)
2. AMANDA LEVETE ARCHITECTS (UK), STUDIO SEILERN ARCHITECTS (UK), VLADIMIR DJUROVIC LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE (LB), FHECOR NGENIEROS CONSULTORES (ES), R. ÚRCULO INGENIEROS CONSULTORES (ES)
3. BRUTHER ARCHITECTES (FR), ROBBRECHT EN DAEM ARCHITECTEN (BE), LIST (FR), GLOBAL – ARCHITECTURA PAISAGISTA (PT), SCHNETZER PUSKAS INTERNATIONAL (CH), DUSS (BE)
4. HEATHERWICK STUDIO (UK), M. DEDA AND ASSOCIATES (GR), BURO HAPPOLD (UK)
5. HOPKINS ARCHITECTS (UK)
6. KENGO KUMA AND ASSOCIATES (JP), AKT II (UK), HILSON MORAN (UK), GEORGES BATZIOS ARCHITECTS (GR), DOXIADIS+ (GR)
7. LINA GHOTMEH ARCHITECTURE (FR), VOGT PAYSAGE + URBANISME (FR), LAN (FR), LOT (GR), TRACTEBEL ENGINEERING (FR), SYSTEMATICA (IT)
8. OMA STEDEBOUW (NL)
9. PROEM ARCHITECTS (KW), YANNIS KITANNIS (GR), OMETE (GR)
10. SAUERBRUCH HUTTON (DE), GUSTAFSON PORTER + BOWMAN (UK), ELENA STAVROPOULOU (GR)
11. SOU FUJIMOTO ARCHITECTS (JP), GUY NORDENSON AND ASSOCIATES (US), CRACKNELL LANDSCAPE DESIGN (AE)
12. UNSTUDIO (NL), SCHEMA4 (GR), OKRA LANDSCHAPSARCHITECTEN (NL)
13. VALODE & PISTRE ARCHITECTES (FR), MICHEL DESVIGNE PAYSAGISTE (FR), VP & GREEN ENGINEERING (FR), ESPACE TEMPS (FR)
14. WILKINSON EYRE ARCHITECTS (UK), GRANT ASSOCIATES (UK), BIODIVERSITY BY DESIGN (UK), ELENI PAVLIDOU (GR), ATELIER ONE (UK), ATELIER TEN (UK)
15. WILMOTTE & ASSOCIES (FR), EGIS BÂTIMENTS INTERNATIONAL (FR), NEVEUX ROUYER PAYSAGISTES (FR)

Alternate Candidates (by order of preference):

1. ADJAYE ASSOCIATES (UK), MAKRIDIS ASSOCIATES (GR), AGIS PAPADOPOULOS (GR), STAVROU P. TZIOTZIOS G. (GR)
2. XAVEER DE GEYTER ARCHITECTS (BE), INSIDE OUTSIDE (NL), NEIHEISER ARGYROS (UK), DAIDALOS PEUTZ BOUWFYSISCH INGENIEURSBUREAU (BE), UTIL (BE)
3. STEFAN RUTZINGER (AT), JAN KNIPPERS INGENIEURE (DE), GREEN4CITIES (AT)

The next phase is that of submission and inspection of the standard documentation by the 15 Candidates, and on 1 February 2021 they will receive the detailed technical specifications and necessary plans for the main phase of the Architectural Design Competition to commence.

Their design proposals for the multifaceted project for the revitalisation of the TIF facilities will be submitted 4 months later, in late May 2021, and then the International Judging Panel will select the winner of the Competition.

The full composition of the Judging Panel met for 3 days, from 3 to 5 December 2020, and selected the 15 Candidates. The panel is composed by:

Regular Members of the Judging Panel:

1. JOAN BUSQUETS, President of the Judging Panel (Spain), Architect, Urban Planner, Head Professor of Urban Design at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
2. FARSHID MOUSSAVI (Great Britain), Architect and Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
3. RENA SAKKELARIDOUArchitect, Professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Architecture.
4. SIMON EWINGS (Norway), Architect and Head of Haptic Architects in Oslo.
5. SAMULI MIETTINEN, UIA Representative (Finland), Architect and partner at JKMM Architects in Helsinki.
6. ARETI MARKOPOULOU (Greece), Architect. Director of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) in Barcelona.
7. IRENE DJAO-RAΚIΤINE (France),Landscape architect and member of the Landscape Institute, United Kingdom.
8. DIMITRIOS KERKENTZES (Great Britain), Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions, Paris, France.
9. KYRIAKOS POZRIKIDIS (Greece), CEO of TIF-HELEXPO S.A.

Alternate Members of the Judging Panel:

1. FANI VAVILI (Greece), Professor of Architecture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Architecture.
2. SIMON HARTMANN, UIA Representative (Switzerland), Architect and Visiting Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
3. DANIEL FÜGENSCHUH (Austria), Architect and President of the Austrian Chamber of Architects.

TIF-Helexpo S.A. Management would like to sincerely thank the 116 candidates who participated in the pre-selection phase. The came from 33 countries, which indicates the multifaceted character of the revitalisation of the Thessaloniki Exhibition Centre and the international interest surrounding it.

11/12/2020 – 13:40

One of the largest primary sector exhibition events in S.E. Europe, the 12th International Trade Fair on Livestock and Poultry, ‘Zootechnia’, will be held from 30 September to 3 October at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre. The continuing pandemic has forced a change in the dates on which Zootechnia will be held; it was originally planned for 28-31/1/2021. ‘Zootechnia’ will be a reference point for all new developments in livestock and poultry, offering the necessary space for B2C and B2B meetings.

The exhibition is the only specialised event in the food producing animal sector in Greece and the Balkans. All major livestock-poultry enterprises will be present at ‘Zootechnia’ and they shall inform visitors on all their options for modernising and upgrading their production.

03/12/2020 – 16:19