Modern Architecture: 10 Buildings Worth Seeing in Athens

Courtesy: Thomas Gravanis

Athens is one of the world’s oldest cities. But hidden among the ancient ruins and all-purpose apartment blocks, you’ll find plenty of cutting-edge buildings.

What makes a city—besides its people, flavours, sights and sounds—are its buildings. Beyond the ancient monuments and modern landmarks like the Acropolis Museum and National Library, you’ll find plenty of hidden treasures for design and architecture lovers in Athens. The editors of local architecture blog, Archisearch, pick 10 modern buildings that you should check out in Athens.

The Acropolis Museum

Designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects, glass, cement and natural light rule in this long-awaited museum beneath the Acropolis. Home to a remarkable trove of antiquities displayed in chronological sequence, the museum is split into three floors whose open-plan galleries guide you seamlessly through history. More than 100 concrete pillars support the building, which hovers over remains of ancient Athens that were uncovered during excavation (visible through the reinforced glass floors, they are also partially accessible on foot). The top floor rotates to align directly with the Parthenon, which is visible through the glass walls. A rectangular core in the centre serves to display the Parthenon frieze, placed in the exact same arrangement as it once stood on the temple itself.

Photo by Manos Chatzikonstantis

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC)

Star architect Renzo Piano’s mission was to give Athens an accessible new landmark with a low energy footprint. After the SNFCC was completed (in record time and at record cost), some locals grumbled that from certain angles this vast cultural and sports complex looks like a bunker. The criticism stopped as soon as people started visiting the magnificent site. Piano created a sloping hill, with a planted roof, and slotted the soaring glass buildings beneath it. This artificial elevation creates a feeling of lightness and restores the connection between the city and the sea. Piano’s vision is “to save the world through beauty” and it seems to be working.

Photo by Thomas Gravanis

The Blue Condominium

Although its deep blue colour has faded over the years, the Ble Polikatikia (or Blue Condominium, in Greek) is still an architectural landmark on Exarchia Square. “The Blue Building” as those who know and love this ageing beauty call it, was built in 1932-3. Designed by a young architect named Kyriakos Panagiotakos and a distinguished artist, Spyros Papaloukas (who chose the original blue palette), it was ground-breaking for its time. Communal living was encouraged in the 32 apartments, with shared spaces including a rooftop dining room. Today, it’s perhaps the most exemplary survivor of post-war architecture in Athens. Its international claim to fame is Le Corbusier’s reaction to the finished product: “C’est très beau”.

Photo by Alex King

IN[N] Athens Hotel

This three-storey hotel is located in a secret courtyard just a few blocks from Syntagma Square, but you won’t spot it easily. To reach the entrance, you have to walk through an arcade (look for By the Glass wine bar and you’re in the right place). In the middle of the courtyard is a lemon tree embraced by a wooden table, with tables and chairs all around. The listed building feels completely secluded. The interior design is by Dionisis Sotovikis, who chose to make each room unique, using custom-designed furniture, original artwork, and raw, unprocessed materials like marble, steel, copper, wood and concrete. The idea is that nothing is perfect, nothing is the same, and that originality is beauty, in a city that is just that.

Photo courtesy of IN[N] Athens

National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST)

In the late 19th century, this was the site of the FIX brewery, a popular brand of Greek beer. Back then, the now-covered Ilissos River flowed freely nearby and the brewery had an unobstructed view of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Redesigned in the 1950s in the modernist style, the building was abandoned for decades from the 1970s. It was partially demolished for the construction of the Metro line that passes beneath it. After several false starts, it was eventually converted into Greece’s first National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST). The new entrance on Kallirois Avenue is a dramatic departure from the industrial mid-century style, with beige marble cladding, a bright red staircase, and a water feature. Indoors, you will find a series of vast white cubes connected by escalators that move parallel to Syngrou Avenue, and great cityscapes from the roof terrace.

Photo courtesy of EMST