What I can see

It is an 84m high building and has 22 floors. The tower sits on a flattened three-level base, occupying almost the entire plot, and is located on the site of the Piraeus Municipal Market, which was demolished to construct this building. The recent redevelopment of the tower aspires to make it a landmark for the area. The PILA architectural office, led by Elias Papageorgiou, designed the facades in a way that they balance the different scales of the tower and the city. The tower volume is wrapped by horizontal and vertical shading blinds. The vertical blinds are shifted horizontally, creating a giant spiral pattern, like a huge veil wrapping the building. Vertical planting is applied between the blinds of the ground floor and the first two floors.

What I can't see

The dictators’ plan was to function as the Maritime Centre of the Municipality of Piraeus, but it was never completed, due to the bankruptcy of the municipality. The architects Ioannis Vikelas, Alexandros Loizos and Demosthenes Molfesis emphasized the vertical lines of the facades. Due to the similarity of their lines, many called the tower of Piraeus “brother” of the Tower of Athens, which was also designed by Vikelas. Even before the dictatorship, there were plans for offices and stores. After the dictatorship, there were plans for banks and offices on the first floors, shops and food establishments on the next ones, and screening and meeting rooms on the last ones. Eventually, only a few municipal services were accommodated on the first floors. For almost 50 years, the tower dominated the skyline of Piraeus as a symbol of modernization and decay at the same time.

Info

• Address: Poseidonos Coast & Dimosthenous St.

Bibliography