Logothetopoulos block of flats

What I can see

A five-storey building of early modern architecture, this building is an example of Erker application (protruding volumes up to 1.40 m. from the level of the facade). It has 2 stoas and 3 indoor open spaces, which provides adequate lighting, ventilation for the 40 apartments, and access to their entrances. It is characterized by structural austerity and strict morphological expression. The non-use of balconies was a bold architectural act, showing the Central European influences of the architect and the acceptance of the principles of modernism.

 

What I can't see

The architect, Kyprianos Biris, was one of the representatives of the architectural renewal of 1930s. The building belongs among the examples of the first apartment buildings, which aimed at the clear spatial separation of the upper classes from the Greek refugees and their constantly expanding camps. The first owner of the building was Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, who was a professor of gynecology, a minister, and a prime minister during the German Occupation. In 1944 he fled to Germany with the occupation troops and after the liberation he was sentenced to life, but in 1951 the remainder of his sentence was commuted. For the two decades following the war, the building housed the State Intelligence Service (KYP), then the Communist Party (KKE) and finally the Ministry of Culture, as it does until today. Next to it was the General Security Directorate, a place of torture during the military dictatorship.

Info

• Address: 20-22 Bouboulinas St.

Bibliography