National Technical University

What I can see

The National Technical University of Athens is one of the best established universities of the country and of exceptional importance not only thanks to its educational merits but also because of its historical and architectural significance. The architectural designs bring the signature of Lyssandros Kaftanzoglou. At the suggestion of Hansen, the columns in the collonades were built in a Doric order. Two monumental stairs lead to the propylon, which mimics the north wing of the Erechtheion. The core of the Averof building is the central atrium, around which collonades with Doric columns and halls are arranged. Kaftanzoglou made significant architectural and aesthetic changes: the wings are a “rare example of freedom”, as Biris (1966) notes, although the doric order is strict, while the portico dimensions were also changed, in order to be proportional to the wings. He also tried to introduce curves, to Averof building, similar to those of the Parthenon. An aesthetic mistake is the portico repetition in the inner façade. The vast scale bronze sculpture by the main entrance breached by the tanks, representing a man’s head on the ground, reminds us of the heroic students fell in November 17^th 1973, during the military repression of the riots against the then dictatorship regime.

What I can't see

Kaftanzoglou originally designed 6 separate buildings. Their composition was neoclassical, with the porticos and the upper floor in Ionic and Corinthian orders respectively. This design was not implemented because of political instability, while the construction work had already begun. The historical significance of National Technical University, however, is connected with the military junta. Having been shocked by a mutiny from the side of the Greek Navy and following the severe crackdown of several students’ movements (due to compulsory conscription of dissident students), in November 14^th 1973, a wrong tip at the Law School of the University of Athens, regarding street conflicts around the Technical University, brought there 300 students. Conflicts with gathered police forces led to a noticeable coiling of people at the nearby areas and eventually the complex’s sit-in by the protesters. In November 16^th 1973, the first casualties were recorded and at the dawn of the November 17^th  the army was ordered to interfere and tanks forced their way into the complex’s front yard. Certain students were shot during their panic-stricken egression, while others found shelter inside neighbouring buildings. The ascertained casualties were 24 dead people. The Polytechnic uprising led to regime’s reshuffling and lurching and it totally collapsed a few months later, when Turkiye invaded Cyprus.

The invasion of the tank:

Info

• Address: 42 Patision/ 28is Oktovriou St.
• Phone: +30 210 7721000
• Website: http://www.ntua.gr/

Bibliography