The Antonopoulos-Kontoleon apartment building

86 Vas. Sophias Ave and Lampsakou St, Athens, 1932-34

Architect:
Georges Kontoleon (1896-1952)



The middle class Antonopoulos-Kontoleon apartment building is a clear, authentic expression of the central European Modern Movement. It is a work by Georges Kontoleon, one of the most thoughtful and talented figures in interwar Athenian architecture.
Construction of the building was financed by a group of friends including the architect. The building consists of a ground floor, four upper floors and a roof, comprising one four-room apartment per floor.
Both the articulation of the floor plans and the organisation of the façades are governed by the principles of the Modern Movement. The two most basic innovations implemented by the architect were his decisions to eliminate the now commonplace bays and have the façade of the building facing the secondary Lampsakou St, so that the main areas of the apartments would have a better view of the Acropolis.
The volumes have been treated in a simple way. Of particular interest is the secondary façade on Vas. Sophias Ave, owing to the emphasis on the vertical dimension given by the narrow continuous band of the stairway and the entrance openings, while the façade on Lampsakou St is treated with long balconies.

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