[MGSA-L] Modern Greek Architecture Archive

[JUNESAM at aol.com]

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/ell__6676093KathiLev&xml/&aspKath/ell.a
sp?fdate=01/09/2005

Archives for history of Greek architecture and its protagonists open on 
Pireos Street
The latest addition at the Benaki’s new wing provides a valuable repository 
of historical data


Four female architects run the Modern Greek Architecture Archive at the new 
Benaki venue on Pireos Street.

By Nikos Vatopoulos - Kathimerini

The Benaki Museum’s Modern Greek Architectural Archive now houses blueprints, 
photographs, entire libraries and rare original documents recording the 
development of Greek architecture since the 19th century.

Located on the first floor and basement of the Benaki’s impressive new 
building on 138 Pireos Street, the new space is pleasant and functional, modern, 
minimalist, roomy and well-lit. Four women manage the archive, all of them 
architects, headed by Maro Kardamitsi-Adami, associate professor at the National 
Technical University of Athens and one of the most well-known and competent 
researchers in the subject. The team is completed by Natalia Boura, Margarita 
Sakka-Thivaiou and Leti Krokou-Arvaniti.

The aroma of old paper blends with technology and modern archive techniques 
to create a channel of communication with the public.

“Living architects or the descendants of those who are no longer alive have 
given us material that has provided us with a continuous architectural history 
of Greece,” said Kardamitsi-Adami.

The archive includes the work of many 20th century professors of 
architecture, such as Ioannis Despotopoulos, Yiannis Liapis and Solon Kydoniatis. Other 
entries include the archives of Academy member Pavlos Mylonas (including his 
complete study of Mount Athos), the files of the National Tourism Organization on 
Greece’s “Xenia” hotel chain, the archives of architects Constantine 
Kapsabelis and Kyriakos Sfaellos (who were active during the 1950s), the archives of 
the Ministry for Reconstruction in the first years after World War II, the 
archives of overseas Greeks such as Yiannis Mytarakis, the first women architects 
(the pioneering Marika Zagorisiou and Alexandra Moreti), the engineer 
Hadzipanayiotou, and younger architects active since the war such as Anastasia Tzakou 
and Dimitris and Suzanna Antonakakis.

“We welcome all contributions, whether it is an entire archive or just a 
photograph or piece of verbal information,” the organizers said.

Many architectural archives have been destroyed or are missing simply because 
the owner’s descendants do not realize their value or cannot imagine the 
archives could be included in an information and research network such as the one 
at the Benaki.

“Architects are essentially modest people,” said Kardamitsi-Adami. “Very few 
think their work is something worth keeping.”

The archive’s organizers often come across surprises, large and small, such 
as the artistic skills of some architects.

Isaac Saporta, whose archive was sent from the US in a container, was an 
excellent artist. Architects’ paintings are in a special section, as are their 
libraries.

The archive does not function as a library but is at the disposal of 
individual researchers.

Complete series of magazines such as “Technika Chronika” and “Cahiers 
d’Art” from the library of Nikolaos Mitsakis provide a wealth of material for 
research.

“We are interested in everything,” the organizers said. “The history of 
architecture is not written by just a few.”

This month the archive is holding a conference in Paris with the Fondation 
Hellenique. In June 2006, it hosts the 13th international conference of 
architectural archives.

A little-known generation

A strong point of the Benaki Museum’s architectural archive is its 
information on the 1930s generation. Most people don’t know about this time period, even 
though it represents one of Greek architecture’s brightest eras. The museum 
has catalogued complete or partial archives, architects’ photographs and 
personal libraries.

These are all accessible in drawers full of 1-by-1.5-meter blueprints and 
sliding bookshelves.

The heroes of the 1930s generation include Koulis Panayiotakos (whose designs 
included the “blue apartment house” in Exarchia), Nikolaos Mitsakis, 
Emmanouil Lazaridis, V. Kassandras and L. Bonis (who worked together on the Rex 
theater and Army Provident Fund building), Isaac Saporta, Ioannis Antoniadis and 
Vassilis Douras.

There is a complete archive from the stylist and architect Alexandros 
Nikoloudis, who is the father of choreographer Zouzou Nikoloudi.

Most impressive is the archive of Costas Biris, which includes early maps of 
Athens. Part of the files of Dimitris Pikionis have already been stored in the 
archive, as well as that of Renos Koutsouris and many other professors of the 
National Technical University, beginning with the distinguished Lysandros 
Kaftantzoglou.