Interwar block of flats
Apartment building of interwar period and modern architecture in Exarchia.
Location
Timeline
Modern and Contemporary era (1821 - )
1930 Completed.
Apartment building of interwar period and modern architecture in Exarchia.
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This apartment building is one of the many examples of modern interwar architecture in the area of Exarchia. The angular endings of the facades change the geometry and volumes of the building, resulting in “visual episodes”, i.e. the volume is broken into a “main body”, which is the building mass, and into symmetrical balconies and erkers (projections in relation to the surface of the building). The ground floor, however, remains unified and “solid”, functioning as the basis of an artistic creation. On the third floor, there is a slight recession of the erkers, which makes the building look lighter. In recent years, attention has been drawn to Alex Martinez’s exotic-themed graffito, which makes a contrast with the densely built urban environment of Exarchia.
This particular graffito was done with the consent of the owners, although any application of this art is not allowed on building facades, especially those of high architectural value. The building was designed by Konstantinos Kitsikis, who was a big supporter of apartment buildings and considered their design a great challenge for the architects.
Monumenta, (2014), Πολυκατοικία Βασ. Ηλ. Φρατζή, [Vas. Hel. Fratzis Apartment Building]
https://docathens.org/gr/monument/view_more/?id=10256
Last visit 6/2/2023
Vlachos G., (2014), Η επίλυση της γωνίας στην αρχιτεκτονική του μοντερνισμού κατά τον μεσοπόλεμο, [Solving the angle in interwar modernist architecture], lecture in Dimokritio University of Thrace, Xanthi
Tsiampaos K., (2020), Εξωτισμός και Αθηναϊκός Μοντερνισμός, [Exoticism and Athenian Modernism], in Archetype,
https://www.archetype.gr/blog/arthro/exotismos-kai-athinaikos-monternismos
Last visit 6/2/2023
Filippidis D., (2003), Νεοκλασική αρχιτεκτονική, ένα μέλλον για το παρελθόν μας, [Neoclassical architecture, future for our past], in Ιστορία του νέου ελληνισμού, 1770-2000, [History of modern Hellenism], Ellinika Grammata, v.4, p.p. 131-148
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