“They may be industrial buildings (unfortunately, deindustrialization is a historical fact), but the buildings exist and we have others that for various reasons fell into disrepute. The problem is even greater when we talk about abandoned, derelict buildings in the center of cities. What is needed in principle is that we all agree, at least all those whose future depends on these buildings, that where it is technically possible these buildings should be preserved, reused with new uses and functions. This may not be a rule, however in most cases it can happen”, added the Minister of Culture.
In pointing out that most industrial buildings become theaters or restaurants, the minister, as well as Mr. Andriopoulos, emphasized that this is not the case. “You know, in our work we do not have the privilege of discovery, but the need of awareness. Making new buildings on land has no particular narrative and in 2015 we discovered that cities and centers are full of abandoned former industrial buildings. We started this work from Piraeus, Papastratos and in the last 9 years we have developed existing abandoned buildings of 220,000 sq.m. in 15 projects and we added new construction which was necessary for them only 27,000 sq m. If we had done this work on plots you understand, talking about the environment and a thousand other parameters, what we would have created in the city”, noted Mr. Andriopoulos, giving, among others, the example of Pyrgos Piraeus which regenerated the area “giving more than 1 million euros in rent to the Municipality and a value that can be borrowed worth 150 million euros”, but also of Mignon, who “lit up Patision ».
“Reintegration should not be one-dimensional. Besides the obvious which are the financials, there are the multipliers. That’s why we continue with great faith in this narrative and vision”, underlined the CEO of the company, also emphasizing the value of the public-private partnership. “Without the cooperation of the Ministry of Defense and private individuals, certain things cannot proceed. Whether the tools are financial or licensing and anything else,” he underlined.
“Most buildings are not theaters and restaurants”, confirmed the minister, who referred to projects of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as the SILO in Piraeus, which has begun its transformation into a Museum of Maritime Antiquities, but also the Old Tsaousoglou Factory (Piraeus 260). which will continue to house the Athens Festival, “but it will not be only that. The entire infrastructure of ODAP will be accommodated with the new laboratories for exact replicas and there will be a model gallery of the casts”, some of which are 200 years old or more. “This means that a timeless panorama of ancient Greek culture can be created, combined with modern art, and all of this will be hosted in the facilities of the Tsausoglou factory”, informed L. Mendoni.
The minister also referred to the Old Olive Mill of Elefsina which will be turned into an Archaeological Museum, but also to the center of Athens and specifically to the buildings that were not demolished, as was the case with others in the 60s and 70s in order to carry out archaeological excavations and create an exceptionally restored archaeological site, between the Ancient and the Roman Agora.
“Fortunately, in the following decades, the Greek state did not have the money to do these excavations, so these buildings were saved, but some are in a dilapidated state. We put forward their restoration in order to create small nuclei of culture in Athens”, pointed out L. Mendoni, citing as examples the house on Dioskouroun Street in Plaka that will become the Elytis Museum (“I hope it will be opened to the public in the summer”), another abandoned building in Plaka that will be turned into the Koon Museum and the Koletti House which as a project is in progress and will be turned “into an archive of the restoration works of the Acropolis, accessible to the entire scientific community”.
The minister also referred to the “Kokovikou House” in Plaka, known from the Greek film with Maro Kontou and George Konstantinou “for which the study has begun to turn it into a center of Greek cinema”, as well as to the Palama House whose study has been completed and will be included in a program to become a study area of the work of Kostis Palamas. “Right now, based on our finances, we are at a stage of projects and studies of 16 such buildings in order to create a cultural route in Athens with antiquities but also timeless points of our culture which we will showcase”, informed Ms. Mendoni.
“The truth is that many times the restoration of these buildings, especially when they are preserved, is more expensive. An effort has already been launched by the government to incentivize private owners to restore these buildings. We are creating an example that things can be done and beautify our city, to get rid of garbage and contamination, to strengthen the cultural character but also to give possibilities to a sustainable tourism”, the minister concluded, among other things.
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