It was long ago that this one came out but I was frantically busy so, I post it now for your information.

What you see below is a proposal for the old Athens Airport in the Hellenikon area. As many people (including most Greeks) know, this particular area used to be the Athens International Airport, prior to its transfer in Spata, to the north-east of the capiral.

The old airport was used to accomodate several sports complexes and installations during the Athens 2004 summer Olympics. Now, several thoughts are expressed with regards to its future use, and one of the most prominent was for it to become an F1 track. Others, would opt for a theme park, and thoughts were also expressed for a part of it to be given to developers in order to finance the rest of the "green" development.

Well, there is one Greek guy from Melbourne, Australia who proposed for all three solutions to take place at once!!!. Mr Spyros Stamoulis is seen as one of the biggest tycoons in Australia with notable presence in the local media and real estate development markets.

As you can see, this development comprises an F1 track surrounded by a park ans a circular development around it, that includes several real skyscrapers. In the middle of the development, one can see a round structure which I wouldn't be surprised if it would come out as an aquarium or something.

In any case, although this is a proposal probably never to be materialised, the guy, a former Australian champion in Greco-Roman wrestling seems to be well in his senses. Problem is, are the Greek authorities up to it too?

In any case, when I first saw this in the "Ependytis"-Investor's world newspaper, it made my day three weeks ago...



Pictures....

1. Bird's eye view of the development area, clearly depicting the part of the runway of the former airport still in tact.

http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22634/36693/478228/0/Athens+Old+Airport+Area+Satellite+06_13_04-small-compressed.jpg


2. Overview and drawing of the project depicting the circular shape of the real estate surrounding the park and the F1 track

http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22634/35748/478220/0/Omega+project+2.jpg


3. Perspective drawing of the project depicting the highrises to the north of the park


http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22634/35748/478219/0/Omega+project+1.jpg


Of course I know this may never materialise. However, it's good to see that the Hellenes of the Homogeneia can share such grandiose dreams.

Unless it's not exactly a dream

All pics (C) "Investor's World" hellenic weekly financial paper, Athens, 4 September 2005

I would love to see a more urban form of this project; I am not fond of circular patterns. The high-rises are a great idea, and the amount of green is a welcome addition. A Miami-waterfront type of development may be a better idea for this area. Of course, if the final project is to include an F1 racetrack and a theme park, this design may work well. I agree about the Omogeneia... Nice to see Hellenes who live in other countries get involved.

wonderful project... Who is the architect? And how is the financement?

What's amazing about this design concept is the greenery abounds inside the circle even with the F1 track.

When I get home I'm gonna try and find out more about this gentlemen because his proposal is very nice.

Will she materialize? :dunno:

I cant see any of the images.

The idea sounds great though.

Cool project. :cheers:

Never mind. Now I see them.

Amazing project. Too bad it probably won't ever happen.

Wow,build it buil it build it!!!The skyline would look so cool from the sea!!!Guys realize this project as soon as possible!!Kill all greeks who are against skyscrpaers!! :)

Never mind. Now I see them.

Amazing project. Too bad it probably won't ever happen.

Don't you give any chance?

This is an impressive design and a bold one too. I like it a lot but I'm not so sure if it will be able to come ot fruition. What I am happy about is that people are starting to take initiatives. I hope to see other innovators willing to submit ideas. This particular piece of land has so much potential. I hope that we utilize it greatly!

The skyline would look so cool from the sea!!!
Not only from the sea, it would look really nice from the F1 track during the races.

Great news!!Come on,you've to build it!It's a great project!

Don't you give any chance?
No. I give it absolutly a 0% chance of working.

Don't get me wrong I would love to see it happen but there are so many factors as to why it will fail.

Spiro Stamouli is a VERY wealthy Greek in Melbourne.

He started off in the soft drink business here in Melbourne but has now diversified into Media (3XY - Radio Hellas, TV Hellas, Ta Nea Newspaper) as well as into real estate (He owns several CBD buildings in Melbourne as well as many reception centres in Melbourne) and is now getting into property development as well. If there is minimal red tape in Greece and he has a substabtial pre-commitment this can be a reality.

theres too much greenery. but id LOVE for this to be built! i almost had a heart attack when i read the title!! all of my dreams came true in this thread! F1 track and highrises. pitty its likely it wont be approved.....how for is helliniko from the acropolis?

16 kms from Akropolis

These artent skyscrapers..looks very short...........

^^ At leats a couple of them look to be over 100m I suspect. (???)

Also, in the 2nd pic, the smaller 3 little photos in the top left corner, you can see ground level views and it looks like they are more than low-rises.

This is a bold design. I always suspected a development upwards would come as a small 'baby step' type way.

And what is that circular building in the middle? This is a nice rendering. Lot's of green for the citizens, new offices for business, and an F1 track for tourism all bundled into one. VERY NICE. :rock: :rock:

the second pic of the small ones shows a round type building that seems it can rival the Gherkin :yes:

I hope Stamoulis is doing fine, like the rest of the omogeneia. A trure visionary Greek, who deserves some exposure, although the truth is that besides the "Ependitis" paper, I haven't seen this anywhere else in the local press. Also, I didn't find anything in the web about this project a few weeks ago and if Prometheus or anybody else is willing to dig a bit deeper, guys, please post us your findings. :)

boi.. this projects realli cool! not onli tourist boom for Greece.. theres also "Skyscrapers!!!" for Greece and yes! Athens! :okay: hope to see it build!

Im going to try and get in contact with Spyros and ill report back to you all. In terms of finacncing, i think it wont be too hard. Stamoulis is worth 250 million (AUD) but he wouldnt fund the entire project (ofcourse!). i estimate this costing close to 1 billion....there would be plenty of investors as this is a superb project

Just found this thread. Is there any recent developments here? Is this project canned? What are the alternatives both for the airport and the F1 track.

Thanks.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=337148

The plan that Souflas announced for the development of the old airport area seems so uninspired and unimaginative when compared to that "Omega city" plan...... :( Pity

OK, saw the proposed designs and landscape work on another site. Though there are no significant scrapers, the park itself looks very nice, and the idea of "softscapes" and "light fields" seems very promosing.

Also, does anyone know what zoneing is allocated to the group of buildings surrounded by the park, on the watefront (Just near the end of the old east-west runway)? That seems like a sexy spot for some tall buildings!

I don't think it's a good idea placing skyscrapers in the Hellinikon airport lands, as this is the only flat side of Athens perimeter, accordingly the only escape for pollutants, as in the other sides we are surrounded by high mountains.

The best places for scrapers are Elaionas (this one with a high percentage of green and some well defined clusters of highrises) and Marousi.

Understood. Are there any pics available of the current development in that area? Is there much commercial activity there?

My point i was making was that building a beautiful building right next to underdeveloped or old residential lots is ugly. I think skyscrapers require a lot of planning and an adjecent beauty that go hand-in-hand (look at central park in NY city for example).

Understood. Are there any pics available of the current development in that area? Is there much commercial activity there?

My point i was making was that building a beautiful building right next to underdeveloped or old residential lots is ugly. I think skyscrapers require a lot of planning and an adjecent beauty that go hand-in-hand (look at central park in NY city for example).


What you are saying dear Byzknight may be science fiction for our planners. However, Souflias seems determined to provide us with something which at least will have A LOT of Green. However, in order to add to this discussion, here is a link to another Athenian site that proposes a mixed development through the transfer of free space to different areas of the Attica Plain.

It is in Greek, but it is also the most complete proposal I have ever seen about this city...

Click here:

http://e-rooster.gr/06/2006/238

Thanks GM. Tried to have a read of the link, but my greek is purely conversational, and about 70% of the article fell on deaf ears (or heads in this case).

Will put it through a translator and see if it makes a difference. I'd also like to make a comment regarding your statement of science fiction. I don't think this view of athens' future is healthy. I truly believe that just by the existence of this forum, we have hope in developing a beautiful city that deserves the respect given to its past (the all too often cited "Golden Age"). Why can't we begin a new age? Why do we greeks always focus on the past, and pass-off the present as unachievable?

I think the author of the link above provided by GM sais it beautifully:
"Το μονο που θελουμε ειναι αποφασιστικοτητα και φαντασια."

I would love to address this more, but bottom line is... We have the ability to build a great city that not only is beautiful but also improves the qualit of lives of its citizens.

Remember that utility (athens today) is useless without aesthetics.

The last I heard on this, was it was now going to be made into a large park, rather then whats shown on the other page with an F1 track and towers etc.

looks nice with the garden in the center and the area is big too!!

Very true Byzknight.
I totally agree.

I'd love for this project to become a reality, but as you guys said, it's highly unlikely - for now.

Is that thing, in the middle a stadium?

Very impressive but…this project comes from another planet and unfortunately the current Greek reality is far away from this planet with no signal of contact…yet?

The Greek situation is... detached from all reality if you asked me...

That is also true…I am still wondering what was the aim of our Olympics. Is it possible for a city to vision its future as a main cultural, commercial and financial center at the Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean without any organized area that will be able to accommodate skyscrapers and generally modern office buildings? It sounds like a joke…where is this area? This project seems complete even at this draft plan that we have by incorporating a huge park, skyscrapers, an F1 track, hotels and maybe some cultural venues such as the Goulandris museum of modern art and the Agios Kosmas marina. If you apply contemporary architectural design to all these projects the result would be perfect. But…:ohno:

I don't like it. It looks like something out of 1950s science-fiction, and not 21st century urban planning. This spread-out car-centric urban district placed in the middle of a [potential] green area screams Robert Moses, and is the antithesis of contemporary urban planning trends which emphasize public transport, community/neighborhoods, reasonable density, and neighborhood/district landmarks and anchors.

I agree with GrigorisSokratis: CBDs with moderate high-rises (and not too many of them) should be built in Elaionas and Maroussi (or run-down part of Piraeus), leaving the old Hellenikon airport only for a park. An F1 racetrack -if Athens must have one-can be built somewhere to the west, to regenerate the gritty areas near Megara maybe.

Someone mentioned a Miami-like waterfont. Miami (the South Beach area) actually reminds me a lot of Greek cities, like Nafplio for example, where the waterfront is lined with cafes and restaurants. This is rare in the US, but is gaining ground. Athens should look to cities like Miami and Nafplio for waterfront ideas.

Ι agree. Many good friends here and elsewhere have frowned at times with my objection to build a full highrise development in this area as in the first place, although if it was finally and definitely decided that such a development would take place there I would refrain from further reactions for the reasons that it is better there than nowhere at all.

The reasons for this objection are:

-Although the area will be well served by the mass transport means (metro extension due for completion in 2009-2010), its location in relation to the character and most prominent uses of land in the neighboring area suggests that it is a perfect site for the development of leisure/ recreational/ tourist facilities. To this end, I believe that a tall observation/ TV tower (make it 270m with an observation platform with a revolving restaurant) would be a very good idea, although again, in my view the best choice for such a structure would be the OAKA (Athens Olympic Sports Center) .

-I also believe that a futuristic hotel complex of up to 20 floors could easily be built on the site of the East terminal of the old Athens airport, like the Jumeirah Beach Hotel (http://www.jumeirahbeachhotel.com/) in Dubai.

http://www.jumeirahbeachhotel.com/i/SITE_031124_18054086_NEQ01/content/CMS_051024_09373183_D82UJ/DBBD4CD9-1143-3174-FDEE75BE7400DED4.JPG

This structure follows the silhouette of the Hymettus mountain that will be behind the structure thus creating a harmonious addition between the mount Hymettus and the sea and not obstructing the view of the mountain from the sea, not at least by such a contrast that would otherwise be created by vertical protrusions of 30-50 storey buildings (although we never heard about something taller than .

-The neighboring communities may prove very militant against skyscrapers who are the ultimate taboo in modern Greek urban reality. Add the ingredient of "green" which is also the most exploited element amongst the ranks of the populist mayors and urban activists (we have so many sensitive souls and still, the overall "green" in Athens and Greece is constantly decreasing, while again, the existing parks are not properly maintained).

-All that should be taken into account especially when considering the exploitations of the issue by militant activist and opportunist political leaders who do not have any interest about the real progress and upgrade of an urban region and capitalize on negativism and cheap politics, or the existence of petty interests with regards to the "slicing" of parts of the land and offering it to favored private parties (mostly relatives) for grill houses (σουβλατζίδικα), cafeterias or other similar establishments etc.

Now, of course these may be some random thoughts especially if we take into account that the NIMBYs in Greece may anyway react (and they will...) to the construction of skyscrapers anywhere. I really don't know what to say. As they say in Greece, "όταν σου χαρίζουν το γάϊδαρο μην τον κοιτάς στα δόντια". If they want to build highrises there and the chances of such a plan to be realized are good, so be it. Better there than nowhere :).

The project is very nice! Lets see.......

Ηellinikon shall become only a park, tall building can be constructed in the town centre of athens. most of the buildings there are empty, why dont you generate this area of athens instead of dooming athens in polution and F-1 noise?

Well, not really in the town centre! I am one the biggest skyscaper fans you can find, but I would not like them next to the Acropolis, or rubbing shoulders with neoclassical buildings...Maybe in central districts, I mean I would not say no to some more in Ampelokipi, Pagrati, Zografou or Kyspeli, replacing some existing blocks (paying attention of course that these blocks do not contain buildings worth preserving)...though I know most people consider it "too central"

Well it is impossible to build skyscrapers in old residential areas like Kypseli, Pagrati, Zografou or Ampelokipi that are totally suffocated from the high density of the urban environment and they have no infrastructure to support any development.
The cost for the replacement of the old existing blocks will be tremendous and not to speak for the social aspects. It is also impossible to proceed at this without destroying buildings from the first decades of the 20th century or some interesting postwar block of flats. So we may seek utopia…or the future of our city after being bombarded if we want to build there!!

Ηellinikon shall become only a park, tall building can be constructed in the town centre of athens. most of the buildings there are empty, why dont you generate this area of athens instead of dooming athens in polution and F-1 noise?

Why don't I generate this area of Athens? hmm...you're right, maybe I should.

In all seriousness: building high-rises in central Athens would be an urban planning disaster. The general consensus here at SSC Hellenic Agora is that a high-rise CBD (central business district) should be built either in the gritty [former industrial] Elaionas area (which is planned for regeneration, and is slowly tranforming into a low-rise CBD), or in the vibrant suburb of Maroussi (which has been experiencing a building boom for several years now, and is sort of Athens' unofficial CBD). Central Athens was one of the first areas to enter a period of revitalization, starting with the gentrification of Plaka (and the restoration of the district's neoclassical homes) which began back in the 1980s. Slowly, the gentrification spread to other districts in central Athens, including Thissio, Psirri, Gazi, and parts of Monastiraki. Plans are now underway to gentrify the area around Athinas Street, south of Omonia, including the old financial district and parts of Monastiraki. Gentrification here too has already started with the renovation of Kotzia Square and the restoration of surrounding neoclassical buildings (including city hall).

There's now plans to further revitalize central Athens. The long-term plans for central Athens are to restore the area's former charm for residents and tourists alike, to create a liveable, intimate area that uses progressive urban planning methods (not outdated 1960s mentality) like pedestrianized streets and urban transit, and to make the area heavily residential with strong presence of retail, entertainment (restaurants, cafes, bars), and culture (galleries, museums, theatres, etc).

High-rises do not belong in the historical city center. This "modernizing" mentality brought ugly 1970s office blocks into the area, neglected urban transit in favor of forging a polluted traffic-jammed auto-centric city out of 19th century streets, and led to the decline of historical central Athens. By building high-rises in the city's historical center, we'd be addressing bad urban planning with more bad urban planning.

As AAL pointed out, a skyscraper next to the Acropolis would look really bad.

Why not to bring down 5-6 blocks in Kipseli, plateia attikis or patisia? those hoods are devstated from the polikatoikies. Land there has zero value.

Why not to bring down 5-6 blocks in Kipseli, plateia attikis or patisia? those hoods are devstated from the polikatoikies. Land there has zero value.

Kypseli...zero land value? :lol: Try telling that to residents who pay rent or mortgage. True, Kypseli is not the prestigeous district it once was, but it never fell into the kind of decay that Monastiraki and Omonia did, and it too has now started to gentrify. I actually like Kypseli a lot; it's quite charming and I wouldn't change much about it. The only thing this area really needs is less car traffic, more urban transit (the tram!!), its squares and parks renovated, and sidewalks fixed. A lot of the polykatoikies that "devastated" this area are actually of good aesthetic architecture from the 1930s to the early 1960s. There's also some neoclassical buildings in the area, many of which are being restored after being abandoned in the 1980s. A lot of polikatoikies in Kypseli and Patisia will look very attractive after a fresh coat of paint (and indeed many have been re-painted). This is not the city's historical center...it's an area that's more on the edge of Athens municipality. Hence polykatoikies like the one you see in Wikipedia's Kypseli article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kypseli,_Athens) are perfectly appropriate for this area, and it's very charming vernacular residential architecture, if you ask me. With a fresh coat of paint, countless buildings like this one in Kypseli and Patisia will look very nice.

As for tearing down buildings we don't like: this takes time. Who will compensate property owners, and find new housing for dislocated residents in a metropolitan area with a housing shortage? In another thread, I posted a proposal to -over time- tear down ugly 1970s office buildings in Athens' historical districts (Plaka, Monastiraki, Omonia, and especially Syntagma) and relocate businesses to a modern CBD in Elaionas or Maroussi where workers will be able to easily commute to their new place of work by public transport. In exchange, the ugly 1970s office buildings can be replaced with -if possible- the lost neoclassical building that once stood on that lot. Developers will be given incentive to do so. But such projects take time. It doesn't happen overnight. But I'm always optimistic. There's new plans to revitalize the city's historical center even further, and they closely resemble the proposal that I had once made for central Athens; read my most recent post in the Athens general develpments thread.

Do you mean that the bourgeois apartment buildings are wonders? They are crap..they dont have any garden, they dont have garage, they are ugly. Plus, concrete increases pollution and heat.

I don't believe that going into extremes will take us anywhere in this discussion.

Kypseli was re-built during the 1950s and 60s as an upper-middle class inner city neighborhood which turned into middle class in the late 1970s and after.

The district needs a total face lift as, in contrast to many taller but inhumanly homogeneous commie block neighborhoods in other cities, this one maintains a potential character of an inner city neighborhood which becomes vividly obvious in Fokionos Negri street and other characteristic street points.

Of course, as this district looks today, despite the fact that it's not the ugliest in Athens, it is definitely the best place for urban life according to the modern standards, nor is it that attractive as other areas in Athens. And the availability of parking spaces does not have to do with it since I doubt that even in Paris, Rome or London ALL inner city blocks of flats have underground parking facilities.

What should be done in my view is that this neighborhood which is indeed salvageable, should really undergo some changes. True, space is needed and to this end, some blocks may be demolished and replaced with green public spaces.

The second, I believe that if the owners of these buildings could give them a paint job, and have all the non-architectural elements of these buildings (i.e. labels and signs, as well as other additions excluding shading tents in balconies) things might also improve greatly.

One should be reminded that ALL these types of urban transformations take years and years to take their final shape. On the other hand though, leaving everything "as is, where is" will simply aggravate the situation to the point of no return, which is a pity since Kypseli has the potential to be saved.

Finally, there have been proposals which now seem to touch upon science fiction, according to which Kypseli could have been transformed into a highrise suburb back in the 1970s. Below is an abstract of a student's final year dissertation written towards fulfilling the requirements for Bachelor's Degree in Architecture Engineering awarded by the Athens National Technical University (Ε.Μ.Π για τους ντόπιους). I leave it with no comments as an exercise for the mind, knowing of course that this type of urban renovation is rather out of the question for this part of town...

http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22634/35748/429297/0/Highrise+Proposal+-+Kypseli+-+Dissertation-small.jpg
Source: Aρχιτεκτονικά θέματα 1972, Architecture in Greece 1972 Annual Review.

Βέβαια, όταν ο Γαλιλαίος βρέθηκε μπροστά στην Ιερά Εξέταση και με τον κίνδυνο να καεί ζωντανός κάτι παραπάνω από πιθανό, απαρνήθηκε ότι είχε πει ότι η Γη κινείται. Μόλις όμως βγήκε από την αίθουσα της ανάκρισης, θρυλείται ότι μαζί με το στεναγμό ανακούφισης που έβγαλε, ψιθύρισε:

"...και όμως κινείται".

Μήπως τελικά θα έπρεπε να ξαναρίξουμε μια ματιά στο παραπάνω κείμενο εφόσον μπορεί και αυτή να είναι "μια κάποια λύση" που λέει ο Καβάφης;

Ή μήπως έχουμε -και εδώ- να κάνουμε με μια "ιερά εξέταση;

Do you mean that the bourgeois apartment buildings are wonders? They are crap..they dont have any garden,

Nor should they have a garden.

Apartment buildings in densely populated central-city areas almost never have "gardens" or American suburban-style "front yards". Whether you look at New York, Paris, Tokyo, Rome, Istanbul, Shanghai, Amsterdam, Madrid, London, Rio de Janeiro, or Athens: centrally-located districts in major densely populated cities have very few private "yards" or "gardens"...in all of these cities, the vast majority of inner-city apartment buildings touch the sidewalk. In fact, the most attractive cities in the world (like Paris, Rome, and St Petersburg) fit this decription. That's what defines a city; otherwise, it's suburban sprawl. Central Athens doesn't need "gardens" on private lots. The area needs public squares, public parks, and streets lined with trees that are native to the Mediterranean biome. This eliminates the need for private green, maximizes the use of city blocks, and provides for easy-to-maintain urban vegetation. Secondly, American suburban-style yards require too much environmentally-unfriendly maintenance; lawns require lots of water [which would deplete Greece's water resources during the dry Mediterranean summers], and lots of cutting (lawn mowers = POLLUTION...and the city could use a lot less pollution). And thirdly, Attica is running out of space; we don't want buildings to be too spread out, unless you want to replace the vineyards in eastern Attica with more suburban sprawl.

Lacking a "yard" or "garden" in no way diminishes the quality of habitation in these apartment buildings, especially when your neighborhood has a public park that's even better than a private garden, and when there's trees lining the major streets.

they dont have garage,

Good.

Residents in centrally-located districts of major, densely-populated cities don't need a car. They need better and more extensive urban transit. There are far too many cars already in Athens, creating daily havoc through traffic jams, air pollution, and other problems that automobiles have created for most of the world's greatest cities. There's plans to build a new Metro line (line 4) which will serve Kypseli (and which will spike Kypseli property prices), and I would also love to see the tram reach Kypseli one day (right now, it serves only the Saronic coast and south suburbs). Line 1 of the Metro isn't too far from Kypseli either. And there's already a fleet of buses running on natural gas and trolleys on the electric grid...let's make more use of them, and limit the use of cars.

Most residents of central Athens don't need a car for daily purposes, but should those who don't have one ever need one, Athens can adopt something like Chicago's car-sharing program.

they are ugly.

I disagree. While the Athens area certainly has a lot of ugly polykatoikies, I think the one in the Wikipedia picture is very charming. These buildings have quite an attractive architectural design, and are perfectly appropriate for heavily residential, densely populated areas on the edges of Athens municipality, ie outside the historical center. Kypseli needs a "facelift" as GM noted (more public parks and renovated squares, improved sidewalks, more urban transit, maybe more pedestrianized streets, improved sidewalks, etc), but not a major overhaul.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/43/Apartment_building%2C_kypseli%2C_athens.JPG/501px-Apartment_building%2C_kypseli%2C_athens.JPG

Plus, concrete increases pollution and heat.

Concrete increases pollution? I've never heard that one before.

Yes, concrete traps heat, but what other building materials do we have to choose from? Wood? In a densely-populated area? Architects and urban palnners will laugh at you. Steel and glass? Steel and glass are not as good insulators as concrete, brick, and stone are. Before the advent of air conditioning, people knew how to build well-insulated buildings, and in today's warming, energy-starved world, older buildings are proving more resilient and energy-efficient than newer ones. These pre-1965 "crap" buildings are actually of excellent construction quality and have excellent insulation. Many of the ugliest, most hideous buildings in central Athens are steel and glass, not concrete. Those are the ugly 1970s office blocks in districts like Plaka, Monastiraki, and Syntagma which should be gradually torn down according to the proposal I had made above.

I doubt that even in Paris, Rome or London ALL inner city blocks of flats have underground parking facilities.


Well I can at least speak for Paris...almost none of the inner city apartment blocks have underground parking.

Skyduster you mentioned how you would advocate non architectural elements to be torn down from buildings EXCEPT for shading tents. I think these tents are the number one reason why so many buildings looks hideous. The building posted in your post would look so much better if those ugly dirty tents were taken down. I also don't believe that every building built just has to have an end to end balcony. I wouldn't mind them if they were broken up into smaller sections and weren't these solid horrid parallel lines running up every side of every building.

Skyduster you mentioned how you would advocate non architectural elements to be torn down from buildings EXCEPT for shading tents.

No, I never said this.

I think these tents are the number one reason why so many buildings looks hideous. The building posted in your post would look so much better if those ugly dirty tents were taken down. I also don't believe that every building built just has to have an end to end balcony. I wouldn't mind them if they were broken up into smaller sections and weren't these solid horrid parallel lines running up every side of every building.

I hate end-to-end balconies too, I think such polykatoikies look ugly. I don't think tents are ugly, except on buildings with end-to-end balconies where you see nothing but balconies and tents. The building in the picture does not have end-to-end balconies; it was built in an earlier era (pre-1965), before end-to-end balconies had become a feature in Greek vernacular architecture. The building in the picture is not overwhelmed by tents and balconies. These tents -or sun shades- serve a practical purpose in a sun-drenched city and -as long as they are used in moderation on residential architecture- I don't have a problem with them. It's the later architecture (1965-1985) where buildings are overwhelmed by end-to-end balconies and tents; I entirely agree that such buildings are hideous. Another architectural element in 1965-1985 vernacular Greek architecture that I hate is ugly concrete columns that support apartment blocks over the sidewalk. A simple solution here would be to make the rectangle [formed by the columns] into an arch [this can be done], and then paint it with stucco. Simple solutions go a long way.

I was the... culprit for the mentioning of the tents a few posts above. I still believe that these sun-shades are necessary for a city like Athens (and I agree with this as well as almost anything else Skyduster has written) and given some conditions they may be adding a local color to the city, in the same way that it happens in Rome, Marseille, and Istanbul for that matter.

I believe that one of the major problems in Athens is what is known as "visual pollution", where it is NOT the size and height of the buildings BUT the overwhelming amount of visual information present in today's Athenian buildings many times caused by the existence of an abundance of "non-architectural elements" on the buildings as mentioned a few posts above.

If you see for instance an original perspective drawing of an inner-city block in Athens and how it might have turned to be visually because of these additions, you will understand my point. Unfortunately, for most of the traditional (in Greek there is the word "κολλημένοι") architects in Greece, there is an arbitrary trend to consider height as a cause for ugliness. WRONG!!! What Athens suffers from in parts (as is Damascus in Syria) is this "visual cacophony" caused by the concentration of too many small buildings with LOTS of visual information on them that's irrelevant to their architecture (whatever value it may or may not have) as well as their small size compared to the whole extent of the urban sprawl of the city they belong. TV Antennae, billboards and advertisement signs, all types of blinking lights etc create an image of a disorganized and chaotic city.

This may be good and useful for certain areas of the city that may want or need to have THIS particular kind of atmosphere. However, when this becomes the rule, the view of the city from above, with the absence of large roads becomes confusing to the eye.

Yesterday I was in a social gathering where I was given a handout copy from local residents from the municipality of Papagos where I live. In this sheet of paper, there was described a local movement to stop the extension of the local cultural center which is located in a small neighborhood with narrow streets and where, the building coefficient was increased from 1.00 which is the local limit (still too much) to 1.45. In my view they are right because such an extension would create LOTS of problems since this area is already close to a major Metro station (Ethniki Amyna), and is already packed with parked cars and away as well from a major arterial road, built in a residential area with narrow streets and -of course as it most of the times happens in Greece - with NO additional underground parking space to be added.

One of the arguments in the paper (which it had already built a very good case by presenting the facts alone) is that the Greek Association of Architects proposes for reasons of protection of the environments that heights of buildings in Athens should be even lower than they are now.

I had to explain to the people next to me that this was a totalitarian view that is of no use in any city anywhere in the world. It was not the overall height of the building or its size OVERALL but its RELATIVE impact to the SPECIFIC community that should be taken into account. Had this building built on Messogeion Avenue (a six-lane road that serves the suburb of Papagos as well), then it would probably be perfectly OK. Unfortunately, this type of logic brought Athens to the status it is today in parts. What these gentlemen do not understand is that height alone is not an adverse factor for the creation of environmentally friendly structures. It is the relative impact of its structure to its endeavors that makes the difference. That's why for instance very few of us -architects, builders or not- do not propose tall buildings in inner city Athens and we look to places like Elaionas or the Attica road. Tall buildings need space to unfold their potential.

Some people also tend to note that NY is dense. Oh, well, I only felt "overwhelmed" in the area close to Wall street where some streets were very narrow since they were traced before the "grid" master plan for the street system in NY was implemented. However, with most of Manhattan's streets ranging in width between Stadiou street and Syggrou Avenue (with the Park Avenue being even larger than that), we should re-think the idea of height that's "crushing" with its "inhuman scales" the nearby residents in a city.

It's how dense and compact a city's neighborhood is, not how tall.

Skyduster, I agree 100% with everything you've written. I know I mentioned Kypseli among other areas, but it would be THE LAST area I would demolish anything in.The only reason I mentioned it is because I had read that old article that Gm mentioned. But I added the proviso that it should be very carefully done, if it's ever done, so as to avoid destroying buildings that are worth keeping. In Kypseli, that means it could NOT be done anywhere more centrally than Plateia Koliatsou. After Koliatsou, the area looses its interest. But the centre-most part of Kypseli is, along with Kolonaki, the only truly urban part of Athens outside the historical centre. These two areas were not built by immigrants or refugees, like most others. Their fates diverged after 1970...that's why Kypseli has many more unrestored dirty buildings than Kolonaki. And certainly, as Gm said, many many rennovations are needed. Most people do not realize how many of the buildings in these two areas are pre-war. Many many apartment buildings built between the 1930's (some even in the late '20s) and 1965 constitute a unique stock of real urban architecture, built by architects for an affluent clientelle.
However, after the massive influx of immigrants, mostly internal ones, Athens's urban culture is all but gone. People value an area by only one criterion: how much it reminds them of their village. After all these decades, they have, of course, been conditioned to like neoclassical buildings; not really because they understand their architectural value, but because everybody else does. Plus, they have tiles on the roof, so that's familiar for them. Kolonaki is still afluent, so that cannot be bashed easily; though I am sure that, deep in their minds, most neoathenias would love to see Kolonaki's Bauhaus and Art Deco polykatoikies gone and relaced with...grass....
The architectural value of pre-1965 buildings in Kypseli is at the same level as Kolonaki. But, as it has lost the glamour of money, it does not register in most neo-Athenians understanding of value.

Cmantas, I cannot believe this phrase.."Do you mean that the bourgeois apartment buildings are wonders? They are crap..they dont have any garden, they dont have garage, they are ugly. Plus, concrete increases pollution and heat"

So, if not the bourgeois, then WHAT KIND of apartment buildings are nice? Neo-rustic?

City living involves more than just living in the city; it involves understanding its nature and its culture and respecting it. In Greece we tend to re-invent the wheel constantly. This kind of discussion would be inconceivable in Paris or New York. Kypseli's buildings are 50-70 years old. Some of them have parking places (actuallly it's the early ones!). Most don't. Paris is made up of 100-year old 5-storey buildings with NO PLACES to park. So what? If you don't like the centre, you don't live there. Simple as that. It's the cars that pollute, not "concrete". And the spoiled people who think they should drive for 1km. And, of course, it's the State's fault. Because if they wanted to SERIOUSLY hit illegal parking, then things would be simple; the smallest road would have 2 lanes (they do already, but they're parked both sides...)....no congestion...no pollution...people would not it would be much cheaper to pay for a parking place than to pay the fine.



Demonizing Kypseli is one of the neo-athenians favourite myths. Along with the belief that Athens has "huge" buildings and that the worst of them is the Tower! The more urban, the worse, in their eyes. At the same time, nobody talks about the aggressive ugliness of very-low-rise Messogeion, Liossion, Daphne, Egaleo....areas with almost NO architecture to be found, with the exception of a handful of buildings in Messogeion. THESE are areas where large-scale replacement of ugly dense lowrise with good, low-coverage medium/high-rise would be good. Also, noone is bothered by the hideous cheap metal-and glass crap in Monastiraki...

In this country, in the mid-1800's we were demolishing 800-year old Byzantine churches as simply "old churches"...in the mid-1900's we were demolishing 19th century neoclassical buildings as simply "old buildings"...and now, some people are at it again: they call the Art Deco, Bauhaus, Modernist polykatoikies of 1925-1965 just "old crap" and would like to see them replace by either new ones or just grass (see the case of teh prosfygika buildings in Alexandras).
Well, this vicious circle must stop! If we want to demolish something, there are THOUSANDS of ugly buildings in this town, either polluting the historical centre, or congesting the western suburbs. Let's do something about them and leave Athens's urban heritage alone.

The Bauhaus refugee residentials in Alexandras Avenue shuld have already been turned into open multi-purpose art halls, if they were not inhabited (which they are to the best of my knowledge).

Also, I would like top see them painted and restored to their original form. There is no reason to demolish them.

i would like to agree first with all mentioned about the end-to-end balconies. I've been thinking about that a long time now, that many buildings would be nicer if parts of their balconies were removed some how, and smaller parts (usually infront of the balcony doors) were kept, and i'm happy that i see its not just me with these ideas.

My family happens to live in one of these buildings, from early-mid 60's, and since its a "family" building, we can take these kind of decisions.
So, due to a recent restoration we did in the whole building, i proposed this idea to my folks... to remove some parts of the balconies, where it is too narrow (infront of the "elkers", the bulks you see sticking out from the building line of the rest of the building) where they are too narrow anyhow, and you cant do much.
And you can guess the reactions from the neoathenian family... it was as i proposed them to demilish the parthenon or something!
And talking to them through that, i see how the length of a balcony means to any neoathenian, regardless if they use it or not. It consists outdoor space = closer to their villages as wiselly mentioned before.

One of the things i've put a lot of thought, that could improve the conditions of living and the visual image of these areas is organising the car parking spots and the pavements. We dont have to turn the streets into pedestian, just control where the cars park. What i see in many cities abroad and still dont see in Athens, is that they do keep the narrow streets open for traffic if needed, but they just keep the nessesery width in the road for one car. The rest is pavement. In Greece we often think only the 2 ends, either the street as we know it, with both sides of parked cars etc, or totally pedestian. There are many middle ways as well!

If the street is bit wider, then you can add one or more lines of parking spots, but "framed" and clearly marked.
In Greece, we place a building, we mark some pavement around it, and the rest of the space becomes asfalt, belonging all to the cars, with chaotic parking and no clear lanes. In Amsterdam for example, the total space of the city center is considered pedestian. And then, they just mark the lanes where the cars need to drive, and to park. With strickt marks & widths in both cases. Anything else is pavament. And sudently, you feel that the space for you as a pedestrian is more, even in a street full of traffic.

Actually i saw a small example like that, as a pillot in an area in ...Peristeri and i really liked it. Still the streets are open, still there are parking spaces, but it feels more friendly. And as a driver, you feel bigger respect to the pedestrians, you feel like a "visitor" in their space. Where in the other side, the moment you step down to the asfalt, its all your fault... you should pay attention to the kings of the road!

Excellent points, TeddyAmsterdam! One of the reasons why pre-1960 polykatoikies are so nice is because they never have those wraparound balconies....When I find the time, I will upload some Kypseli photos...maybe it will change some people's mind about the old apartment buildings!

Speaking of erkers, do you know the story behind them? It's one of those typical poking-our-eyes-out-by-ourselves story! All the buildings with big erkers that you see (sometimes extending outwards over 1 meter) are built before 1937. The big erkers were very common in interwar modern German architecture, and also in Athens, which was really an architecturally very daring capital back then. In 1937, two (otherwise good and famous) architects, Biris and Kitsikis, decided that the big protrusions of the erkers harm ("ousiastikws kai aisthhtikws") the appearance of the streets...and managed to convince the government to pass a law restricting them to 40cm or something like that.
Their rationale was that a flat-faced modern building would not significantly change the street appearance, as opposed to one with erkers and loggias in all floors. But this was a mistake at all levels:
They assumed that only a few new buildings would be built in the centre. If they wanted to protect it, they could have altogether banned any modern building being built there, and let modern architects express themselves freely out of the centre. Instead, anyone could built anything anywhere, provided it had no big erker! So, even in Kypseli (which was not "centre" in 1937) no big erkers could be built after 1937! By geometrically retricting the architect's designs, buildings lost their initial plastic qualities and architectural design was really suffocated; of course good architects continued making good buildings, but they had to manage always keeping in mind that someone with a...measuring tape could tell them what to do....

Does this ring a bell? YES! It's THE SAME mentality that banned skyscrapers. EXACTLY the same! Akrivoi sta pitoura kai fthnoi st' aleyri, not only in 1985, but also in 1937...

(For an "inside" description of the story, read Biris 1965 book "Ai Athhnai apo tou 19ou ston 20o aiwna": it's an amazing archive of photos and events. Of course, Biris had no understanding of anything that happened in architecture after 1920, so it bashes it relentlessly! But it's still a great source of information and images)

what is a shame for many of these "polykatikies", even the nice ones is that it feels like they designed 2 different buildings. The store bellow, and the flats above.

Most of the times, none of the lines or elements of the nice buildings are continued at the store bellow. Some good ones have flats also on the groundfloor also (or semi-groundfloors) but most have ugly stores.

Well, having a ground floor look visibly different than the rest is not a new thing - in fact all neoclassical architecture is based on the base-trunk-crown triptych; the question is HOW this is implemented. In many cases, the original design is distorted by the shopowners on the ground floor...
This also opens an interesting chapter: modern buildings were supposed to not have this tripartite structure; however, slightly differentiating the base and having a built pergola on the top floor, actually made these buildings more easy on the eyes in a time of transition (1930's). And yet, Biris criticized even that! He, the classicist, accused modern architects of not being "modern enough" because of their "useless" pergolas- an argument that one would expect from a functionalist! Hmmmmm....