University of Athens Monument

Akadimias & Sina Sts, 1987

Architect
Giorgios Panetsos (1960-)



This is one of the very few modern monuments in downtown Athens dedicated to the students who fell in the resistance struggle against the Nazi occupation (1941-44). The site of the monument, which is in the midst of buildings from different periods with disparate architectural value, resulted from the demolition of the early neoclassical Skouphos residence in 1984.
The main architectural idea of the monument consists of the choice of four ordinary features that when put together take on emblematic significance. They are: (a) the low surrounding marble wall without railing, hinting at the walls around neoclassical buildings in Athens, which functions as an open space for reflection, rather than a site for commemorative ceremonies, (b) the marble pedestal which alludes to ancient altars (symbols of sacrifice), on which has been placed the symbolic abstract stainless steel sculpture by Giorgos Nikolaidis, (c) the bench, a worn solid piece of marble, which the students being honoured may have used, and (d) the olive tree that symbolises the works of peace.
The wall of Economidou Hall serves as a background to the monument, and was treated in accordance with the neoclassical style, without real or false openings. At the point where the new façade ends, it projects outward by the width of the pillar, so as to reveal the architectural intervention.

TRANSPORTATION