>> Athens 2004 - the OLYMPICS thread <<

[De Snor]

As I've mentioned in another thread these pages here are for topics about the Olympics in Athens next year !

Have any news about this event , post them here !!

[gm2263]

Here's a small update:

1. Athens Metro Monastiraki station line 3 (blue) is nearing completion and is expected to be operational in March 2003. The extension of the existing station (line 1, green) was delayed due to problems relating to the stability of the soil. The stupid metro engineers simply didn't know a common secret amongst many Athenians and pointed out by many geographers from the Ancient times: That the underground river "Iridanos" flows exactly below that point so extra caution should have been exercised when digging there.

Anyways, this is expected to be a high class station and rumour has it that while on the escalators, passengers will have a view of a big chamber with antiquities found during the excavations for the construction of the station's extension.

Especially for De Snor and the rest of you: Click here for a .pdf document (Adobe Acrobat format) with technical details about the station's construction (Grand Moustache, I hope you'll like it).

2. Attiki Odos, the 70-km Athens ring road system is nearing completion with full operation expected at the end of 2003. To the information of "nationally proud" Greeks, Istanbul has two ring roads already like this one (OK, without the suburban rail in the middle and maybe longer but what the hell we built the Parthenon 2,500 years ago right? )

The most crucial section, a 14km-long strip, that will finally complete the connection of the new Athens International Airport with the National Road system will be delivered by the end of January 2003. Also, the branch that passes close to my place on the slope of mount Hymettus will be delivered in August 2003. (Yuppiee!!! No more torment in Kifissias and Messogeion to go to Kifissia and the north of Athens).

Here's a view of the famous Attiki Odos Roundabout in its junction with the Kifissias Avenue. Photo taken last November, (C) Attiki Odos Consortium. (I had to resize it as the original size of the pics in http://www.aodos.gr is 2.5 megs on the average!!!)



BTW: I SEE A SKYLINE BEGGING TO BE FILLED WITH SKYSCRAPERS HERE. Please tell me am I right or there's something wrong with me?

3. Almost one Km before this spot is the Athens Olympic complex. Here we see a picture of the Olympic Press Centre which is built close to the new Athens Expo and Convention Centre operated by the Thessaloniki International Fairs Organisation (HELEXPO). After the games, this metallic construction will be embodied to the rest of the Expo/convention facilities in a big complex of some 40,000 or so expo or convention space (at last, Athens is doing something right.

Here's a recent (11/2002) pic of the side of this construction:



4. Various sports will also be accomodated in the old Athens "Hellenikon" airport. Many of the big hangars are now transformed into stadiums for varous sports. Also, the two terminal buildings of the International Flights terminal (East Terminal) will be transformed to a convention/expo centre too.

5. Last week, Mr Jacques Roeg from the International Olympic Committee visited the Athens 2004 President, Mrs Yanna Angelopoulou and was given a full update on the progress of the works. Also, Mr Roeg was given the usual helicopter tour ( I envy this guy so much!!!) of the sites under construction.

Guys, that's all I have for now. Be prepared for more though, as the 2004 Olympics are close and works will start to be delivered at a rapid-fire pace.

Although I had in my plans to post many Athens 2004 Update threads in various topics I think that this cosi corner would also be good

@Gregory

I didn't know that of Iridanos river! Thanks for your information
Also the red line station at Heliopolis (Suncity ) is due to be finished by the end of the summer. And the metro is currently expanding to the north and east

Btw whats your opinion about the tram? It's a very important project but many residents of the coastal zone are protesting against it (mainly at Faliron). Works have already been started though.

Me as a coastal resident I don't want it in my neighborhood distrincts (Voula - Vouliagmeni)
It is said though that it will end at Glyfada, so we are ok
I believe that the main problem is at the Faliron and mainly at Flesvos area. I hope for a solution to be found for both sides because many people need the tram but it would be a crime to destroy the wonderful pedestrial coastal street of Flesvos

Also the Attica road it will certainly give a big breath to the tortured civilians
And from my place I'll be at Kifissia in 20 mins

Anyway, I'll be back with news from the almost finished Pancretian stadium in beautiful Crete

[gm2263]

Nessuno...

I agree that the tram will have to pass through already populated areas and that many people say that one of the best coastal avenues of the mediterranean, the famous "Posseidonos Avenue" may lose its beauty because of this.

Actually I don't have any particular objections other than:

1. What's gonna happen to the car traffic, especially in Nea Smyrni and Palaion Faliron.

2. How the coastal Avenue's sidewalks will be affected because of the damn thing. In addition, the opposing parties to the construction of the tram say that it's not actually a regular-sized tram but a speedy mini two-car train that will run on the asphalt or something.

I don't know. Also, the pics that I've seen show a space-age design which I liked. You never know. For sure, the coastal avenue will change as we have the junction with Alimou avenue under construction. One thing is that the place will be modernised for sure.

[ASIMOV]

Heeey, opening this section was a great idea De Snor!!!

And I'm sure Gregory will provide us the best and most updated info on the latest...

Everyone knows that the next Olympic games will take place in the city of Athens

A few events though, and especially the football tournament will take place and in other Greek cities.

Heraclion (pop. 200,000) in the beautiful island of Crete is one of them

Heraclion among with Athens, Salonica and Volos will organize the football tournament of 2004. For this event a brand new stadium is being built there.
The stadium named "The Pancretion Stadium" will be a 38,000 all-seated with a track. It is located next to a beautiful sandy beach.
The project will have been completed by summer 2003

A few pics from the construction area:












Final rendering of the stadium:

[gm2263]

Very nice pics and a good stadium is under constructiton in Crete.

Also, a 14-Km long part of the Attica Road was delivered on Thursday Jan 30, 2003. Of course I mwent there and drove and the feeling if FANTASTIC. It now appears that Maroussi IS becoming a new business centre. I hope that they build tallr though.

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Also, a 14-Km long part of the Attica Road was delivered on Thursday Jan 30, 2003. Of course I mwent there and drove and the feeling if FANTASTIC. It now appears that Maroussi IS becoming a new business centre. I hope that they build tallr though. </td></tr>
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Yeah,I heard about that. Good news Attica road is almost completed. I'm waiting though for the Hemmetus part of attica road, where the current ring road is. It will save me 20 mins for going to kifissia from voula!
As for Maroussi it is a rapidly growing business center. I pray that by 2004 Maroussi will surpass the taboo of 100m

[gm2263]

I hope that they surpass the limit of 50m for starters!!! With the exception of the OTE (Greek Telecom) building and the Atrina Center the rest of the notable buildings just "flirt" with the 35m limit which according to Skyscrapers.com is the lowest limit for a building to be classified as a skyscraper.

Perhaps, if I was to make a research, I would discover some with 35,5 m height. I would feel ashamed however to include them in a site where there are skyscrapers listed with a height of 400m and above.

Time for the losers to start think big, that's all I have to say...

[Prometheus]

One of the most important set of works (in my opinion), the linking Athens's archaeological sites with pedestrian walways, as well as the removing of thousands of ugly billboads and advertisements is well underway! The sections in and around the Acropolis will be re-designed and declared as pedestrian only zones with cobblestone walkways, trees and such being added all around the area. This project was ironically a dream from last century that never came to fruition, until now.

This is being done in conjuction with building refurbishments to help male the city center a more attractive place. It is long over-do and from what I heard, it being very well received (though the cranes and such are a pain).

Some photos of the works (pe patient, many pics!):

SOME NEW WALKWAYS:












OMONIA'S NEW DESIGN:








REMOVAL OF ADVERTISEMENTS:
Before

After


Before

After


Before

After (Notice the green tarpe on the building to the right)


BUILDUING REFURBISHMENT:










SYNTAGMA SQUARE-NEW:
Syntagma Square



All pics from the site of the 'Unification of Athens' Archaeological Sites' company.

http://www.astynet.gr/

Wow! I knew about the linking project of Athens' arceological sites but I didn't know that it is in a climax like this!!Thanks for the pics Prometheus

And damn the city center is 5 mins from my uni..

The walkways under the Acropolis are impressive! I'll certainly pay them a visit when the weather gets clear
It's an ideal place also to seduce a girl

As for the billboards and the refurbishment of buildings and squares..well it was about time

[Prometheus]

Wasn't it about time?! Damn politicians! They neglected the capital for too long, and only now seem to have realized that it needed a face-lift. How tacky were all those damn billboards anyways? I mean, some billboads yes, but not on every street corner. We have enough trouble seeing the sun in Athens through all those 200m plus highrises. :rotf:

But seriously, like Gregory said, the first step in a tall Athens is it's need to have an infrastructure to feed off of. Watch especially the metro and the highway (Attiko Odos). Areas with space, where those two converge are key imho! Plus, all this new architectural design, in both buildings and other projects (squares, walkways etc) could be the start of the original 'ballsy' designs that Greek architecture has lacked for years. Space is low, and won't get any bigger, so sooner or later, they'll have to give in.

A nice start would be a cluster like what Napoli has. 1 or 2 200m+ ones though to top it off. All in all though, come August 2004, Athens will be a different city.

[gm2263]

I already made an announcement for our friends in the main forum in "Urban Discussions" (Click in the previous link to access it).

At last I don't feel alone here (well I'm not with so many international friends) but it's good to have a chat with my compatriots every now and then.

I agree about the need for something similar to Naples "Centro Direzionale" with buildings more or less the size of the existing ones of Rotterdam (they have someprojects on store for 200m+ too but their tallest now is a Babis Vovos style glass tower called Gebouw Delfse Poort, only 3,5 times taller . Rotterdam has one of the most decent skylines of Europe but the buildings are not utterly tall.

Athens has this characteristic of being "a city with a view" according to a friend from Toronto ( ) Canada. This means that the missing skyline in terms of skyscrapers already exists because of the mountains forming the Attica basin ("to lekanopedio Attikis"as we call it in Greek). This is what saves us from living in a flat, ugly city in many parts.

Now, the point os how to incorporate new buildings into such an existing skyline? The answer:

There is no need to build tall in Central Athens. Good or bad, the city's been built already to saturation point. On the other hand, the city centre is only a small part of the total area of Athens. Good or bad, clusters of small high-rises and mid-rises already exist in Maroussi, Pefki and the surroundings of "the cake" style roundabout in Kiffisias and Attika road junction.

Of course, "oi perioikoi" (the neighbours, the term referring even to residents at a radius of 2km from the intersection (which does NOT have any neighbouring residentials within 300 to 500m from its centre) will object "gia tin ygeia ton paidion tous" (for the health of their children). Well, I admit that they have the right to object any vertical expansion even for areas all across the new section of the Attiki Odos between "the cake" and Metamorfossi junction. I wish to find out however if the "exohika" (country homes) they have are built according to the building codes, but that's another story.

You are right though. A couple 150m-tall surrounded by 6-10 80m to 120m can be built there. I wouldn't suggest anything taller unless for a TV/Telecom Tower. However, the skyline "begs" for highrises there. Anywhere else would be bad. Some buildings up to 15 storeys might also be buuilt in Syngrou Avenue but not more, as they would obstruct the view to the sea.

The point is: Who dares?

But we will be back on this soon .

[ASIMOV]

Very positive! I also hate the advertisements in and around the historic port of Galata in Istanbul and hopefully they'll be removed (along with the restoration of old buildings which are falling apart)

Back in 1999 a similar move was made in Istiklal Avenue (Grand Rue de Pera). They removed all advertisement signs and brought a legislation to put a standard on putting signs (all names, whether Benetton, Burger King, Bulgari, etc. are now written in standard gold paint, usually provided by the municipality). Now it looks much more tidy and beautiful.

Good work, dear Aegean brothers!

[De Snor]

@ gm2263, Are there leaflets and brochures available about the infrastructural projects in Athens ? I would love to have some at home ! Would you like to look around please. Thank you

[Monkey]

Back in 1999 a similar move was made in Istiklal Avenue (Grand Rue de Pera). They removed all advertisement signs and brought a legislation to put a standard on putting signs (all names, whether Benetton, Burger King, Bulgari, etc. are now written in standard gold paint, usually provided by the municipality). Now it looks much more tidy and beautiful.

Yeah but I'm in two minds about this idea. It's used in historic towns in England (Cambridge, Oxford, York etc) but don't you think that it removes some of the colour from a lively shopping street like Istiklal Cadessi??

I can't believe that the Olympics are just next year. It seems like no time since Sydney. It's really cool that the Games are back in Athens for the 100th anniversary of the modern games.

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I can't believe that the Olympics are just next year. It seems like no time since Sydney. It's really cool that the Games are back in Athens for the 100th anniversary of the modern games.</td></tr>
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the 100th anniversary of the modern games happened at Atlanta 1996

The games started in Athens at 1896

Athens was a candidate city also for the 1996 centenial games but lost in the final round to Atlanta.
But I believe that is better for Athens to organize the 2004 Olympics than having the 1996

Comparing Athens2004 with Athens back at 1996 is like comparing Damascus with Zurich..

[gm2263]

originally posted by Nessuno
"Comparing Athens2004 with Athens back at 1996 is like comparing Damascus with Zurich..

[Prometheus]

Not really Olympics related, but nevertheless....


February 20th, 2003

After… wandering around Athens, the new stadium of Panathinaikos FC might be their current one! The president of the club met yesterday with the Minister of Culture and made an official proposal for the complete reconstruction of "APOSTOLOS NIKOLAIDIS" STADIUM (Leoforos).

Note that one year ago Panathinaikos proposed the upgrading of Leoforos (addition of second tier on two stands). The new plan is however totally different, as it calls for an entirely new stadium with a capacity of 35,000. The main feature is the change of orientation (from east-west to north-south), with goals being on the side of Alexandras Avenue and Lycabettus Hill. In order for this to be possible, however, a large area must be expropriated (Panathinaikos want to be given free use for 99 years), schools need to be relocated, part of Alexandras Avenue must be covered and Tsoha Street completely closed.

Panathinaikos say they will fund the whole project, although the amateur division of the club (who "rent" the stadium from the Municipality of Athens) have yet to show any agreement to the plan. What is more, the State must give its permission for the whole thing to go through. The first reaction from the Government was "we are looking into this proposal".

http://www.stadia.gr/news-20-2-2003.html

[gm2263]

One of the major points here is that Alexandras Avenue was supposed to be submerged at this point so as to create a big plaza or esplanade connecting the stadium, the 16-storey Athens Police Headquarters. The area is already served by the Athens Metro (line 3, blue).

These are good plans but I definitely think that the road must be submerged. According to the new plans, there will be a park around the new stadium. My only concernis about the school to be relocated, but again, I reckon that a viable solution might have been worked out already.

What is notable is that this stadium was originally opened in 1908, when the Ampelokipi district were a rural area...