Modernist Athens: A Look at the Benaki Museum

Architizer News

Modernist Athens: A Look at the Benaki Museum

February 9, 2012

Text by Daphne Matziaraki. All images (c) Gregory Hurcomb, unless otherwise noted.

The red stoned building at 138 Peiraios Street is one of the most successful contemporary buildings in Athens, Greece. Located in the neighborhood of Rouf, and designed by Maria Kokkinou and Andreas Kourkoulas Architects, it houses a branch of the 80-year-old Benaki Museum. Rouf is undergoing a “regeneration” that will be familiar to any city-dweller. Grandiose nightclubs and tacky restaurants have colonized this once industrial, working-class neighborhood. The Benaki stands in opposition to the influx of neo-bourgeoisie culture, offering the public access to Greek art ranging from pre-history to the present. Small galleries, artsy restaurants and bars, furniture boutiques, and architectural and art studios have settled into the streets behind it, gravitating towards this center of culture. Read on.

Image (c) Erieta Attali.

With the addition of one extra floor, Kokkinou and Kourkoulas’ 2004 architectural restoration of the Benaki has fully retained the original design of the old industrial building, which is based on the principle of a series of introverted spaces that open into a bright central atrium. Visitor circulation is organized around the atrium in a way that allows maximum access as well as great flexibility programmatic uses. Beautiful inclined ramps lead the visitors into the exhibition spaces, reclaiming the side galleries as part of the public spectacle. Semi-transparent screens and smart wooden blinds transform visitors into silhouettes, like actors in a futuristic shadow theater. The atrium functions as the “heart” of the Benaki, where live music, theatrical plays and outdoor exhibitions are hosted. The bookstore and the restaurant open up to with the patio on the ground level.

The Benaki is inseparable from Athens, a satellite orbiting the city’s traditional cultural centre, connected via the memorable walk of the ancient Kerameikos area. Stripped of the demureness of conventional museums, accepting the culture and geography that surrounds it, the Benaki speaks to the real character of Rouf and its patrons.

Text by Daphne Matziaraki. All images (c) Gregory Hurcomb, whose blog can be found here.