Blue apartment building
The Blue Apartment House ( Greek Μπλε πολυκατοικία ) is a historic building in the Exarchia district of Athens . It is considered a masterpiece of classical modernism in Greece. The house on the corner of Arachovis and Themistokleous Street has 39 apartments and offers a view of Lycabettus Hill.
history
The building was commissioned by the Antonopoulos family from the architect Kyriakos Panagiotakos (1902–1982) and built in 1932/33. The color design was done by the artist Spyros Papaloukas, a student of Georgios Iakovidis , who also had the facade painted blue, which was very unusual at the time and gave the house its name. The originally planned swimming pool was dispensed with for cost reasons.
During the reign of Ioannis Metaxas , counterintelligence was in the building and a total of three (unsuccessful) attacks were carried out. Metaxas's daughter also lived in the house. Some of the country's great actors and writers resided in the house below, among others. a. Katina Paxinou , Dimitris Horn , Freddy Germanos, Sophia Vembo, Dimitris Myrat.
The popular Café Floral pastry shop was on the ground floor . It reopened on June 24, 2009, but now as a bar and bookstore.
The decay of the Exarchia district and its transformation into a meeting place for the alternative scene has also let the house go to waste. For decades, apart from the whitening of the facade, there have been no visible investments. A restoration is also rather ruled out due to the lack of income.
architecture
The building is a typical example of the early Athens apartment house of the 1920s / 30s, which were built in the districts close to the center and are characterized by a high level of comfort (elevator, concierge , high ceilings, balconies, etc.). The design of the Blue Apartment House also dispenses with compromises such as decorative railings or wrought iron doors, as can sometimes be found. Le Corbusier visited the building in the 1930s and described it as very successful.
Web links
- www.eie.gr
- Café Floral with information about the building
- Article of the Kathimerini
- Report from the station ERT-net
literature
- ΚΑΡΔΑΜΙΤΣΗ-ΑΔΑΜΗ, ΜΑΡΩ: Η Μπλε πολυκατοικία, Libro 2006 ISBN 9789604900824
Coordinates: 37 ° 59 ′ 11.7 " N , 23 ° 44 ′ 7.6" E