Akropolis, Athen

Olympia got the metropolis moving

Athens’ pluspoints as the Olympic venue owe little to its urban disadvantages: smog, noise and traffic in the Greek capital are notorious, in August especially. For decades, the city’s classical architectural heritage has been swept aside; ancient monuments lie in a sea of prefabricated concrete.

And now? “Pump huge sums of money into beautifying the irredeemable”, as the critics presume? Or did the games provide the incentive for enhancing quality of life in Athens? In Barcelona in 1992, the change was palpable: urban aesthetics and functionality suddenly became burning issues. In Athens, the games have turned long-held dreams to reality: 150 km of new roads, two underground urban railway lines, new access points to the sea. The Olympic site is a multi-purpose area.

The regeneration of the urban zone was evident in the historical heart of the city too: between the Acropolis, Olympieion and Kerameikos became a traffic-free cityscape. In the Marygianni district, Bernhard Tschumi’s New Acropolis Museum looks onto the temple area, while the excavation of historical sites, for instance to the south of the Acropolis, continued apace. To protect current excavation work, in 2003, AETER Architects developed an exemplary glass roof concept using DORMA RODAN pull rods and glazing clamp mountings. The roofs absorb temperature related material movements without stress and ensure optimal visibility.

Prominent Features

The DORMA RODAN system effectively unites protection and presentation at archaeological sites. Also temperature-related material movements are no problem for the roof construction.