HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
From Ancestral Wisdom to Celestial Futures
5th ALPHA MISSION - ΔELOS
Global Gathering
25 & 26 May 2025
The 5th ALPHA MISSION – ΔELOS Global Gathering brought together a global constellation of thinkers, scientists, and artists to reimagine how we inhabit the world—and worlds beyond. Drawing inspiration from Delos as a resilient, ecologically balanced settlement that once sustained nearly 30,000 people, the gathering turned to the past to inform visions of the future.
In the spirit of Apollo—born on the island and revered as a founder of cities—the discussions explored how to build wisely, responsibly, and in balance with the environments we inhabit. At its core was a tribute to urban planner Constantinos Doxiadis and the Delos Symposia of the 1960s and 70s, which examined the future of human settlements through Ekistics—the science of human habitation.
Expanding the dialogue from the terrestrial to the celestial, ALPHA MISSION – ΔELOS 2025 invited a new generation to imagine settlements that harmonise nature, society, and technology—wherever humanity may journey next.
As part of the gathering, the World Human Forum unveiled a sculptural installation by Praxiteles Tzanoulinos, centred on the themes of “Oneness, Wisdom, Life,” inviting the public into a space for rest and reflection.
Monday 26 May, 2025
Lessons from the Past
Tuesday 27 May, 2025
Inspiration for the Future
-Presentation of Myth2Space School Network by Children-Representatives from the Cyclades
Demetris Athanasoulis
Director, Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades
Josie Bamford
Executive Producer, Oxford University Schwarzman Centre Cultural Programme
Daniel Barber
Professor and Chair of Architecture History and Theory, Technical University of Eindhoven
Daniel Benardout
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hellenic Post
Véronique Chankowski
Director of the French School at Athens
Beatriz Colomina
Howard Crosby Butler Professor of the History of Architecture, Princeton University, School of Architecture
Dr Athena Coustenis
Director of Research, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
Thomas Doxiadis
Architect & Landscape Architect and Founder of doxiadis+
Catherine Gall
Executive Director of the Sorbonne based ETI Research Laboratory
David Gissen
Professor of Architecture and Director of the PhD Program, Yale University School of Architecture
Bettany Hughes
Historian, author, and broadcaster
Zelişah Kızılkan
Voice, duduk
Nahum Mantra
Founding Director of KOSMICA, Artist
Karen ní Mheallaigh
Professor of Classics and Director of Graduate Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Alexandra Mitsotaki
President & Co-founder, World Human Forum
Carlos Moreno
Urban Planner; Associate Professor and Scientific Director of the ETI Chair, IAE - Paris1 Sorbonne
Dimitris Philippides
Professor Emeritus of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, Department of Architecture
Emmanuel Rammos
President, Hellenic Space Center
Simon Richards
Reader in Architectural Humanities, Loughborough University School of Architecture
Alexandros Rizopoulos
Percussionist
John Schellnhuber
Climatologist, Director General - IIASA, Founding Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Sokratis Sinopoulos
Lyra soloist
Anezina Solomonidou
Planetologist, Greek Space Agency, ESA, NASA/JPL
Diana Tischenko
Violinist
Mark Wigley
Professor of Architecture and Dean Emeritus, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Mantha Zarmankoupi
Williams Professor in Roman Architecture, University of Pennsylvania
Yannis Zouganelis
Solar System Science Coordinator, European Space Agency (ESA)
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