University of Athens Student Union building

Akadimias and Ippokratous, Athens, 1926-1931

Architect
Alexandros Nikoloudis (1874-1944)
Associate architects
Gillieron Gaston



Built opposite the National Library (1885-92, architect Theophilus von Hansen), the imposing Students’ Union building of the University of Athens is one of Athens’ most representative applications of French academic eclecticism. It is a work by the distinguished architect and NTUA professor Alexandros Nikoloudis, who was a graduate of the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.
This multi-storeyed building has a double-height ground floor and four floors above it. The elevations, the layout of the interior and the décor were designed in the eclecticist spirit of the Beaux Arts.
The building is divided into three zones, base, trunk and crown, a division marked by cornices. The vertical dimension is emphasised by pilasters between the openings, to the height of three floors, which run rhythmically through the trunk of the building.
The base consists of the two-storey ground floor; the trunk the three upper floors and above the main cornice there is a fourth floor with parapet that constitutes the building’s crown.
The particular features of the elevations have an eclecticist treatment on the upper floors with the alternation of simple and composite openings, while the corner of the building is curved.

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