The area of Eleonas is for the city of Athens what the unconscious is
for the man. We know that it is exists, but we cannot define its
border. After the devastation of the olive trees, the area was treated as a
city boundary, in which there were placed all of those who
aesthetically disturbed their “soul”. There, we place what passes under the barrier of meaning, these, which we think they have lost their meaning. As it is a
constant interaction between the conscious and the unconscious with
the repression and the transformation of desires, similar is an
interaction between space and people in the area of Eleonas. This
interdependence leads people to cover their needs by taking advantage
of the already existing space and buildings of the area. At the other
hand, it leads to the formation and configuration of space and
buildings. However, these two-way influences seem to be out of
balance. The shape and form of the buildings and spaces resemble the
idiosyncratic language of the early sketches of an architect, which
only he could understand. The same applies for the “linguistic code”
of the buildings and spaces of the area: Only the people who use and
shape them according to their own needs, can understand it. The whole
area of Eleonas is a "recycling" of materials, spaces and buildings. We should go back over the early human construction activities, in
times when architectural rules were not established. The idea for
these first buildings originated from the arising needs and the
available materials. The concepts of the architectural composition
were unknown and people formed and transformed spaces in order to find
shelter, store their food and shelter tools, and protect their
domestic animals. Adding and removing elements in these spaces,
considering the available resources, was only taking place in order to
solve problems. Over the years people evolved socially and these
spaces were treated as “raw materials” that had to be processed and
transformed in order to cover the new needs. The same method of
reconstruction is also applied in the area of Eleonas: «Somehow,
someway, It seems like the early space arrangements and provisions
live in us as a primal instinct of habitation" (Tassis Papaioannou
2015, 48). Thus, if we really want to comprehend the formation of the
free spaces and buildings of the area, we should take into account
these primal instincts.