>> Athens 2004 - the OLYMPICS thread <<

[gm2263]

@ De Snor,

Stephan, the Athens 2004 organisation is responsible for organising the Olympic events and have a say on the construction of the Olympic installations but they are not responsible for the construction of infrastructure works like trains, metro, or highways. For all the above, the Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public works is responsible, which co-operates with the consortiums of Attiki Odos, the Attiko Metro, the Athens International Airport etc. To contact the ministry, please click in the address below:

http://www2.minenv.gr/Contact/Contact_en.html

Of course, keep in mind that bigorganisations, especially state ones are very slow in their responses (especially the Greek ones).

[De Snor]

Thanks , a mail has been send to them

[Prometheus]

Olympiakos FC have released officially the 'plans' for their new stadium which it is learned is 3 weeks ahead of schedule

As soon as they are up on the net, I will post them.

In other news FC AEK's new stadium (AEK arena) is now falling very much behind schedule (it is not however an Olympics related work). The mayor of the town has filed a suite against AEK and the contractor and it will not get sorted out until at least November. Thus, FC AEK (my team) will have to continue to play at Panionios FC's stadium until the 2005 season.

[Prometheus]

And now, the new home of the Greek Champions Olympiakos. Karaiskaki stadium...

[gm2263]

Here we should mention that the new Olympiakos FC stadium will be completed in just 18 months from the groungbreaking day which, I believe, may constitute a Guiness record by itself... Also, one has to add that the location of the stadium is very appropriate for use in the Olympics since is will be next to the Peace and Friendship Stadium and the existing access road bridges to Piraios street and close to the new HUGE junction of Posseidonos Avenue with Kifissos Avenue, where two highways, the Athens Green Metro line to Piraeus and the West tram line to Piraeus will converge.

You can have an indication of how the area will look like in the following design. To the left of the image you can see a circular structure which is the roofed Peace and Friendship stadium. To its upper left (outside the picture) will be the Karaiskaki stadium. The junction is to the right of the P&F stadium.



As you understand, the whole area is under total reconstruction. Want more? the green space will constitute a model ecology park for a number of animal species that live there (believe it or not!!!)

Unfortunately, I cannot go there and take pics now as works are still in progress. Thanks for the pics anyway file, thay're great .

[Monkey]

A query to the wise Greeks: what function will the original Stadion serve during the Games? I remember it as being right smack in the middle of town. I hope it will get plenty of use although I suspect it's considered "old fashioned" and "lacking in modern facilities." Did they already rehab it? It's GORGEOUS, and I LOVE it!!!

Efcharisto to you all (and of course particularly to Gregory) for keeping us so beautifully up to date on this awesome undertaking!

[gm2263]

@ Whose homepage

Thank you for your kind words dear friend. I quote here the info directly from the Athens 2004 Olympics official site which can be found in http://www.athens2004.com/page/?la=2&id=788. I hope this answers your querie



The Panathinaiko Stadium, widely known as “Kallimarmaro” or the ancient marble stadium, is the stadium where the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 were held. Even in ancient years, the Panathinaiko (or Panathenian) Stadium was largely used to host the Panathenean Games, festival events that were held to honour the Greek goddess Athena (the Goddess of wisdom, skills, and warfare in ancient Greece and protector of the City of Athens). Historians considered it, at that time, to be “a miracle above description that it had almost exhausted the marble quarries of mountain Penteli” (Pausanias). It is situated in the heart of the Greek capital, Athens and it was first reconstructed in 1895 for the purpose of becoming the main stadium to host the 1896 Olympic Games.

The time has come to serve once again as one of the competition venues for this great sporting event: the 2004 Olympic Games. The renovations that will take place, under the responsibility of the General Secretariat of Sports and the Ministry of Culture, include upgrades and modifications on its infrastructure, mainly in the scope of restoration of the monument, configuration of the track and surrounding areas, incorporation of lighting, and establishment of anti-fire systems. The overall project of restoration will result in 45,000 seats for the marathon finish and 5,500 seats for archery. The project is due in July2003.

[Monkey]

Efcharisto, gm!

That's most reassuring. To me this signifies that the old Stadion Kallimarmaro (good or beautiful marble, I gather) will be a major feature during the Games next year. The fact that the Marathon is scheduled to end there leads me to think that it will be the main venue, at least the one where the opening and closing ceremonies are held. I draw this conclusion because at the previous Olympics I've seen (on TV only ), the Marathon runners arrived one by one, followed by the closing ceremonies.

I hope I'm right! The place is so gorgeous, it deserves it!

[Marco Bruno]

Great Athens! This stadium bellow is fantastic!!!!
I've buyed here in Lisbon a book about the athens projects, called "ten projects for the greek city"
In fact, the book is in greek and italian, but I know to read italian, a little bit...

[De Snor]

Why is the 1896 Olympic Stadium open on one side ?

[gm2263]

Originally posted by De Snor

Why is the 1896 Olympic Stadium open on one side ?

This is because it is build on the side of the Ardittos Hill (and that's in the centre of the city!!!). If you look at it from another angle you will see that the 'blind" side of the structure literally "rests" on the hill. Also, one has to consider that this is the site of the ancient Athens stadium so the choice for this location pays tribute to the old glory of this city.

To illustrate the above, here is a pic taken from Vassileos Konstantinou Avenue that shows the entrance of the stadium from the street level.

[KONSTANTINOUPOLIS]

3 very nice photos which i have found from ergose.gr

These r 2 stations of the Athina Suburban railway network,all stations are U/C(and i dont really know how many are they) expected to finish in summer of 2004


This is Athina 's int. airport suburban+metro railway station
It has 3 lines(2 for the suburban and 1 for the metro)


i dont know anything about this station




When i found pics and info from the other stations i will post them here

[gm2263]

@ Konstantinoupolis

Thanks very much for the info. The Athens International Airport station is impressive and I wasn't able to find a picture to post here. It is being built opposite the main terminal building and will be connected to the terminal via an airbridge that already exists. It will also be very close to the Athens Sofitel Airport hotel.

@ ALL: There are so many works in progress right now in my city that it's difficult even to count them. At last, Athens becomes a metropolis with all this infrastructure having nothing to do with the mega-village that it was some 5, 10 or 15 years ago .

[De Snor]

How are the local people reacting to all these developments and construction sites ?

[Monkey]

Bigger pic:

[Monkey]

Originally posted by KONSTANTINOUPOLIS

Olympic Stadion-small update

"The pieces of the roof 's arcs are now being assembled with the help of the temporary metal "towers".A first part is already fitted together and now hangs over the stadium.The photo below was shot today"



from Stadia.gr

A closer look.The Olympic Stadion will be gigantic when its complete.A really work of art.



from Ethnos.gr

Is that the main stadium that I just posted a rendering of above? I can't believe you guys didn't tell me about it - you know how much I love this project!! Anyway I'm just relieved she's definitely being built. This will be one of the best pieces of contemporary architecture in the world.

[gm2263]

Originally posted by De Snor

How are the local people reacting to all these developments and construction sites ?

Not that positively I'm afraid dear Stephan. I know that almost ALL the visible infrastructure works (that excludes the Athens subway system which is-as the word denotes- underground and thusly not visible) have been taken to the State Council (we call it Symvoulio tis Epikrareias for the Greeks here) by many NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) citizens. Now, there are two major points of view here:

First, given the time pressure it is highly probable that some works might have not been given the proper concern with regards to the environmental hazards they would impose to their neighbouring urban communities. I would say that some 15% of those appeals have reasonable grounds for consideration. However, and I confess it with the upmost embarrassment here, most of the appeals were made by local authorities and interest groups with no reason and with dubious purposes. The most characteristic example is the enlargement of the Varis-Koropiou road (to the east of Athens) a very significant arterial road which connects the coastal suburbs of Athens-Piraeus with the new Athens International Airport. At some point on this road there are some folk taverns (ta hasapica tis Varis for the Greeks here). These taverns employ some people (probably Albanian emigrants ) to wear Greek folk costumes (dressed as evzones) and point their shepherd stics (we call them glitses in Greek) to the cars driving by to invite them in. Can you imagine that the owners made an appeal to state council and said that the road shouldn't be enlarged because this will not allow any space for these guys to do their show?

I can keep on with many examples which simply show how selfish my compatriots are at times.

@ Monkey: My apologies mate for not receiving prompt info. Thisngs happen so fast in Athens, it's difficult to keep track of everything and unfortunately, I am the only regular Greek here in a forum of 4,700 at the time of writing. It's a shame but that's how it is...

[Prometheus]

Grigori, you are doing a fine job for Athens and Greece as a whole brother.

I'll start coming back more often to help you out more.

[gm2263]

Originally posted by Prometheus

Grigori, you are doing a fine job for Athens and Greece as a whole brother.

I'll start coming back more often to help you out more.

Dear Prometheus

File mou, I am not writing that there are no regular Greek participants here, in order to poke on the Greeks already participating. I said it a thousand times before: Where the f*** are all the architecture students and the construction community? Also, I understand that many people may have a rich and healthy social life and may not be available to write and post here on a 7/7 weekly day basis. The problem is not with the participants but with the absent ones. Like I said: How come that in the biggest architecture (even highrise) forum on the globe there are only 4 Greeks posting?

BTW: Read next post:

[gm2263]

I knew about this for quite some time. I present you with the info that I know and I hope that I will find out more on this.

In some (a handful to be precise) electronic and printed publications about the works currently in progress in the Athens Olympic Complex in Maroussi-Kalogreza, there have been some indications that a tall structure will be erected in the south-west area of the complex somewhere, I reckon, between the velodrome and the main Olympic Stadium (not much enlightening for the non Greeks, I know, sorry guys).

Anyway, thanks to the forumers at http://www.stadia.gr (which is THE source of information about the Greek stadiums and it is the type of site and forum that I would very much to do about Athens architecture once, congrats to the admin, George Xenidis), I present you with the structure. Unfortunately it will not be inhabited as it seems but it will be at a height of 110m according to a source from the ministry of culture and will definitely change the skyline of the area if built.



In case of this project materialised, this will be the tallest structure in Athens (and Greece) ever built (if we exclude a chimney in a power plant in Keratsini, near the port of Piraeus), height 150m) and some 7m taller than the Athens tower which stands at 103m of height in Ampelokipi North-central Athens.

I feel happy today!!!