Athens College Latsio Elementary School

Kantza, Attica, 1986-95

Architect
Nicos Valsamakis (1924-)



The Latsio Elementary School associated with the Athens College is one of the most up-to-date and well-equipped private schools in the Attica basin. Its design was assigned to architect Nicos Valsamakis after he had come first in the competition by invitation in 1986.
Built outside the city, in the verdant environment of Mesogeia, this postmodern building complex is a characteristic work in the evolving career of this distinguished architect.
The main idea of the architectural synthesis was to create a school that would be administratively independent from the existing one, but with which there is a broad unity. Entrance to the complex is through a square area with an atrium off which is the rest of the building organised into wings. The Latsio elementary school comprises two schools made up of six grades with three classes each. Thus the eighteen classrooms are structured into three communities. Each community has its own administrative areas, workshops and recess yards. In the centre of the complex are the public functions and spaces. The semi-outdoor and outdoor spaces play an important role in the architectural composition. The buildings were laid out according to their adaptation to the terrain, and to ensure the correct orientation, taking advantage of the view and with the least possible intervention in the natural environment.
This complex is a synthesis of pure geometric volumes. The postmodern façades are characterised by restrained classicist simplicity, pure forms, the dominance of solid surfaces and plasticity that arises from the rhythmic repetition of the openings and the semi-outdoor areas.

TRANSPORTATION