
The role played by urban planners and architects in the development
of modern Athens as well as the design of its most important buildings
was marginal. This marginalization contributed to uncontrolled construction
and the aesthetic downgrading of the urban landscape. Athens, however,
never lacked for capable urban planners and gifted architects; rather
the prerequisites for their creative activity were lacking, prerequisites
that existed in other European cities. These unfavorable conditions
give greater value to the struggle of true creators for architectural
quality, and to their achievements and international honors. One of
the objectives of this selection of buildings in Athens is to document
the quality of the work of contemporary, and especially women architects,
something difficult to perceive in the Greek capitals chaotic
landscape.