Yasu from Athens!

I'm somewhere in that sprawl to the left

Hello again! its been too long hasn't it? I hope that all is good with you - person who might read this. Now, the picture may have been a bit of a give away, but for anyone not completely awake yet - I'm in Athens!

Yes, I'm currently in an apartment in Athens listening to the John Lennon anthology and typing away to you. As nice as this scenario is, I didn't fly here to listen to the music of John or to write this blog from a new exciting location -  I came to work.

Being half Greek, I have been to Athens many times. It is a city changing very quickly and not always for the best. The birth place of Democracy has become the birth place of Greek discontent and unemployment. This is not a blog about social or political opinion so I will say no more on this. I just wish to give some idea of the situation here as I think its an important backdrop for the project that I am currently here to see.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre is an amazing development that will truly enhance the face and future of 21st Century Athens.

Development sketch of the site from from Renzo Piano Building workshop

The development was born from the desire to give Athens a state of the art Cultural destination. The Centre will encompass a new National library, an Opera house and a much needed area of outside space in this very much urbanised City. The development is being built on a prime site on the sea front that has been unused since it served as a huge car park during the 2004 Olympic Games.

Plan of the site, showing the large areas of green space. The prinicple buildings are underneath this 'green roof'.

This section of the site shows the arrangement of the two main buildings, side by side. It also shows the sloping angle of the whole site.

The project is on a truly huge scale. It is being led by The Renzo Piano building workshop who are responsible for the co- design of the Pompidou Centre in Paris and The Shard currently under construction in London.

I really can't wait to see this project when it is finished. It really will be a truly fascinating structure and the park will be a wonderful place to spend time near the sea in Athens. The buildings are underneath a huge man made hill the rises to the shear 'cliff' edge by the sea. The roof of this hill will be green space accessible to all.

This image shows the huge 'sail' over the top of the building which houses thousands of photovoltaic panels to create power for the buildings.

A view up the man made hill from the new green space. At the top will be fantastic views out to the sea.

The building has been so beautifully designed and thought out. Every detail has been looked at to create an inviting, inspiring and ultimately functional space. Seeing a project like this in action is a true priveledge and you can really see why the Renzo Piano team is held in such high esteem. Their dedication and proffesionalism is something that has truly inspired me.

All images from Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

Phew! writing that has taken much longer than I thought so I'm going to leave it there today. I also wanted to say hello to my new 'follower', I won't name and shame, but you know who you are because you are the only one I didn't make follow me ; ) It really made my day to see someone had read this so many thanks and Welcome!