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TZOUMERKA SCHOOL

Research and Education on Traditional and Sustainable Building

The former primary school of Frasta begins a new life as a place of learning, collaboration, and creativity. The building is being restored and transformed into a vibrant hub of research, education, and collective action, dedicated to traditional and sustainable building practices.

The school forms the core of Boulouki’s objective to develop a local ecosystem in collaboration with national and international partners, and become a living mountain workshop that studies, showcases, and applies the lessons of traditional knowledge in contemporary applications, while promoting the sustainable development of Tzoumerka with solutions adapted to the region’s cultural and natural heritage, in a participatory and inclusive way.

History

Upon entering Tzoumerka, next to the historic single-arch Plaka Bridge and within close distance of both Ioannina and Arta, stands the former Primary School of Frasta. Built in 1955, it hosted many generations of students until the early 1980s, before being inactive for decades. In 2024, it was granted by the Municipality of Central Tzoumerka to Boulouki for a ten-year term to host a School for Research and Education on Traditional and Sustainable Building.

Its architecture reflects a particular period across Greece (1930–1960), when local tradition met more modern approaches. The combination of tradition and innovation in construction offers valuable lessons for protecting both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, while also reducing the environmental footprint of the building sector.

Research and Restoration

Since 2022, through educational activities and extensive research on the restoration and renovation study, the main construction works have been carried out. The research, in collaboration with the National Technical University of Athens, focuses on the use of local raw materials, the recycling and reuse of materials and structural elements, the building’s energy upgrade, and the reduction of the environmental footprint of the restoration and renovation project. The goal is for the building to be fully functional by the end of 2025, with contemporary infrastructure that respects tradition while minimizing environmental impact.

  • The first two-week hands-on workshop “Frasta School” in 2022, built a new stone entrance gate, using local stone and lime mortar, while the neighboring dry-stone walls were repaired.
  • The following year, during the 12-day “Autumn School”, work continued shaping the school’s new gate, completing the dry-stone paved path that leads to it.
  • In autumn 2024, the largest project so far, titled “Tsiati”, focused on restoring and maintaining the school’s wooden roof, as well as upgrading its energy performance with natural insulation made of woodfibre boards, cork, and sheep’s wool. The roof was also redesigned to accommodate two lofts, increasing the building’s usable space.
  • In 2025, the double educational program “Keretsi” focuses on restoring the masonry, exterior pointing, and interior plastering, using lime-based mortars.

The School will serve as a knowledge hub, where Boulouki and its network of collaborators will carry out research in the following areas:

  • Sustainable management of local raw materials, and the reuse and recycling of construction materials.
  • Development of environmentally friendly building materials and techniques, with low environmental impact, based on traditional knowledge, for use in both restoration and contemporary sustainable building practices.
  • Energy issues and the use of natural resources.
  • Ethnographic research documenting traditional building knowledge and its practitioners, to create an archive for Epirus.

Projects to date:

2022 Frasta School

2023 Autumn School

2024 Tsiati

2025 Keretsi

Operation

The School, as a School for Research and Education on Traditional and Sustainable Building, will host permanent and periodic programs, ad hoc activities, and the ongoing use of the space for work and research. Its activities will be addressed to professionals, students, the local community, and the public.

  • Workspace and Research
    The School will host Boulouki’s core team and collaborators, who will work on the design and preparation of educational programs, as well as hands-on on-site research on materials and techniques, functioning as an active 1:1 scale construction site

  • Archive & Exhibition
    The reception area will house Boulouki’s public archival collection, focusing on the history of the School and the wider area, as well as on the master builders’ knowledge of Epirus and other regions of Greece, documented through ethnographic research and cultural mapping.

  • Information & Advisory Center
    The School aims to serve as a point of reference on sustainable methods for restoring historic buildings, renovating, and constructing new structures—promoting the use of local, natural, and recycled materials, while also connecting visitors with specialized craftsmen and workshops.

  • Educational Programs
    The goal is to transform the former primary school of Frasta into a permanent educational hub, hosting annual programs such as:

    • Apprenticeship for young professionals, builders, and engineers in the use of stone, timber, and lime mortars in traditional construction.
    • Twelve-day hands-on workshop for students and professionals on traditional techniques, historic architecture, and related fields.
    • Shorter workshops (2–4 days) for hands-on learning around the cultural and natural wealth of the area.
  • Rural Incubator
    A yearly program is being developed to support entrepreneurship based on the circular economy, sustainable building, and cultural heritage, covering various themes across all mountain municipalities of Epirus.
  • Residency
    In the former teacher’s house, facilities have been created to host two residents at a time, to accommodate researchers and artists from diverse fields. The residency fosters research in the Tzoumerka region and encourages public presentations and engagement with the local community.

  • Activities
    Beyond the regular programs, the School will also host ad hoc events such as shorter workshops, lectures, presentations, symposia, festivals, and exhibitions in collaboration with local and regional partners.

Relationship with the Community

Since its founding in 2018, Boulouki has developed strong ties with the Tzoumerka region through workshops, field research, and other activities that created trust with the community and local stakeholders, while also building a network of collaborating craftsmen who keep traditional knowledge alive.

  • The local community will be guaranteed free participation in scheduled activities.
  • Activities will be co-designed with residents, responding to local needs.
  • The School will support the development of sustainable business solutions in the area and provide advisory assistance for promoting traditional techniques and materials.

Info

Status:
Pillars:
Tags:
Co-organisers
Municipality of Central Tzoumerka
Supporters
Municipality of Central Tzoumerka, Municipality of Northern Tzoumerka, Region of Epirus, Ministry of Culture, Technical Chamber of Greece, TCG Epirus, Hellenic Parliament, Panos & Cressida 4Life, Aegeas NPO
Sponsors in kind
Local businesses
Partners
Laboratory of Building Materials, NTUA School of Architecture
Collaborators
Epirus Living Lab, Mountain Labs Network

Related Resources

DSCF3848

Guide & Dataset: “Burning the Bones of the Earth” Documenting the Traditional Lime Kilns Technology Across the Albanian-Greek Border

  • Documentation

A guide to the project ‘Burning the Bones of the Earth’, which was initiated in November 2021 and concluded two years later, and after extensive field research in several locations of Epirus in NW Greece and in regions of S. Albania. Its objective was to trace and document the traditional craftsmanship of wood-fired, flare-type lime kilns on both sides of the border; to explore the knowledge, practice, and social dimensions regarding the lime kiln technology and the ways it evolved in the two neighbouring countries.

The file is available in English.

DSCF4108

The Journal of the Building Limes Forum Burning the Bones of the Earth; Across the Albanian- Greek Border: Correlation of Ethnographic Field Notes with Scientific Knowledge”

  • Publication

This article presents preliminary findings from an extensive research project titled ‘Burning the Bones of the Earth’, which began in 2021. It documents the technology of traditional lime kilns in the trans-border region between Albania and Greece.

Authors: Ioanna Ntoutsi, Faidon Moudopoulos-Athanasiou.

The file is available in English.

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Traditional Technology of Pine Tar in Epirus (Greece) A Craft Between Heritage and Modernity

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This study examines the traditional technology of pine tar kilns in Greece, focusing on the case of Distrato in Epirus, where the last traditional artisans reside. Pine tar (katrami) is a viscous liquid produced by the destructive distillation of resinous wood, primarily from pine trees. This practice has a long history globally and in the Mediterranean, with applications in medicine, cosmetics, fuels, and waterproofing for construction and shipbuilding.

Authors: Christos Theocharis, Ioanna Doutsis, Panos Kostoulas, Grigoris Koutropoulos

The file is available in French.

Related News

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  • News

“KERETSI” Open Events Programme

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New European Bauhaus Award for the “Frasta School” project

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DSCF4282
  • Open Calls

OPEN CALL “KERETSI | Apprenticeship and Hands-on Workshop on Mortars for Traditional and Sustainable Building Practices”

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Archisearch features “Boulouki at the Bridge”

KERETSI featured

KERETSI

Apprenticeship and Hands-on Workshop on Mortars for Traditional and Sustainable Building Practices
06/10/2025 - 7/11/2025
Frasta, Tzoumerka, Epirus, Greece
Featured image DSCF3819

BURNING THE BONES OF THE EARTH

Stories of lime kilns on both sides of the Greek-Albanian border
2021-2024
Epirus & Southern Albania
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TSIATI

Apprenticeship and Hands-on Workshop on Traditional Timber Construction Techniques
02/09/2024 - 27/09/2024
Frasta, Tzoumerka, Epirus
DCIM101MEDIADJI_0084.JPG

AUTUMN SCHOOL

On traditional and sustainable construction
17/10/2023 - 28/10/2023
Frasta and Plaka in Tzoumerka, Epirus, Greece
Featured image FRASTA SCHOOL Grigoris Koutropoulos (6)_edited

FRASTA SCHOOL

Οn Traditional Building Techniques
03/09/2022 - 16/09/2022
Frasta, Tzoumerka, Epirus
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