Redesigning the building complex of the Athens School of Fine Arts on Piraeus Street aimed to create a school that encourages the blending of different media and fields of knowledge — in teaching, in making art, and in exhibiting it. The goal was also to shape a free, public, and open space that allows interaction between the city and the academic environment, and to give the school a new identity by respecting the history and industrial past of the buildings, while combining different architectural styles and construction methods.

To achieve these goals, the following design interventions were made:

  • Parts of the building are removed to create new pathways.
  • Openings are added to the Pireos façade to bring new life to the outdoor space.
  • Clear distinction between open public space and the protected academic environment.
  • Boundaries are defined to organize functions and movement. The twisting of the building grid helps guide the shift from ‘public–urban’ areas to ‘private–academic’ ones. Repeated across the complex, this grid twist creates flexible workspaces and exhibition studios that work independently of the strict structural system.

The educational activities are placed in two main zones, on the north and south sides of the site, connected by a central movement route — like a belt. A separate construction system was chosen, which moves freely between the grid of the existing structure, creating smaller individual spaces or “pockets.” This led to the creation of studio-exhibition spaces on the east side — flexible areas for students to work and display their art spontaneously, during the actual process of creation. These spaces are temporary, constantly changing and evolving, and are the core educational units of the school.

Inside each studio, students freely shape their own personal workspaces — like small cells of different sizes and shapes depending on the needs of each art project.

All the shared, non-educational functions were placed on the west side, next to Piraeus Street, opening the school to the city and creating a public square. The neoclassical buildings define the school’s façade on Piraeus Street. The wall acts like a filter, controlling how urban functions interact with the school environment.

Thesis, academic project- NTUA
area: 24.523 m²
location: Athens
architectural design: Meni Gentimi, Eleni Kavallari, Amalia Tsountani
year: 2008