What I can see

The six-storey building of the current Alpha Bank is an example of the composition of different architectural styles. It includes elements of Italian neo-rationalism, and it also refers to neoclassicism thanks to the Doric style of the marble revetment and the collonade on Stadiou Street. Meanwhile, it is characterized by a clearly modern style with the glass bead functioning as a “presumption” of the contemporary physiognomy of the building. Nikoloudes Stoa is distinguished in the middle of the building, which enables the city’s urban web to continue uninterrupted. The aim of its design is to express the prestige of a bank, while it remains in harmony with the surrounding neoclassical buildings.

What I can't see

Prior to its construction, there were also the neoclassical buildings of “The Bookstore of Hestia” and “Loft of Loumidis”. The bank’s mansion, a work by Nikos Valsamakis and Kostas Manouilidis, received strong criticism for its size and some violations of the General Building Code rules for the historic centre of Athens. In summary, the interesting architectural and functional advantages of the building are the four basements, the glass dome on the ground floor that allows natural light, the plasticity given to the space by the light partitions in the single interiors, and the fully heated exterior walls.

Info

• Address: 40 Stadiou St.

Bibliography