A future for Athens

Abstract

The author, an architect and town planner, graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Athens Technical University, specialized in town planning in Paris, and obtained his Ph. D in urban design at the Technical University of West Berlin. After a ten-year period of practicing architecture in Athens where he conducted several studies for the Greek Tourism Organization (hotels), the Archaeological Service of Greece (landscaping of excavation areas) and private clients, he has been working mainly in Germany (Berlin and Munich) as well as in Greece as an urban designer in a wide scope of activities, including teaching, research and a planning consultancy. His special interest focuses on urban conservation, planning and urban history. He has worked with the Freie Planungsgruppe Berlin and the Burckhard Planconsulť Basel.He has elaborated major planning development and preservation schemes for the Greek state (Chios Tourist Development, Mykonos-Delos Development Plan, Chania Old Town Preservation Scheme) and acted as an expert for UNESCO (1970, Iran) and the UNCHS (1982, Yugoslavia). As an advisor to the Greek Minister of Culture ( 1974- 1977) he coordinated the Greek participation in the U.N. Vancouver Conference on Human Settlements (1976) and in the European Architectural Heritage Year (1975). He has also acted as the liaison officer between the National Greek Committee and the UNESCO experts for the Acropolis conservation campaign. He has taught as a visiting professor in Berlin (1969-1970), Stuttgart (1981-1982) and Munich (1996-1997) and was for 10 years (1976-1985) Professor of Urban History at the Post-Graduate Center "Raymond Lemaire" for the Conservation of the Architectural and Urban Heritage in Bruges and Louvain/Belgium. He has elaborated major research studies on European planning history and planning issues of his native town Athens, and is considered an authority on the town planning history of modern Athens.