On March 5^th 2015 at 16:00 the Branch of the HFC will host a lecture by Prof. Vladimir Glazyrin from Odessa State Academy of Construction and Architecture entitled “Architecture of Athens. Celebrating the Capital’s 180^th Anniversary”.

One hundred and eighty years ago Athens became the capital city of Greece, but history of Athenian architecture began in Antiquity, the 1700-year period from the 12^th century BC to the 5^th century AD. As early as during the Classical period, in the 5^th century BC, Athens developed into a powerful city-state where treasuries of 250 allied Greek poleis were kept. For the ancient Greek architecture, that time known as the Golden Age of Pericles represented the period of triumph that saw construction of Athenian Acropolis and Parthenon in 447-438 BC. In the latter its architects, Ictinus and Callicrates, employed the method of optical correction of facades in order to reach ideal proportions and harmony of dimensions between individual part of the temple.

Following the Roman period in their history (146 BC – 38 AD), Athens became a part of Byzantine Empire witnessing reconstruction of its ancient temples and erection of new Christian churches. Later in time, the city fell under the rule of Ottomans and suffered from their yoke until liberation of Greece, in which Odessa played an important part. Finally, in 1834 Athens became the capital city of Greece, and a new, modern period in the development of Athenian architecture began.  Grounded in methods and forms of ancient Greek architecture there emerged Neo-Greek style (2^nd half of the 18^th – 19^th centuries) and Neoclassicism (late 18^thcentury). As a result, Greek Renaissance and a straightforward character of Greek architecture came into fashion in Greece, Europe and the United States (e.g. Capitol in Washington D.C – 1876, British Museum in London – 1847, Athenian Academy – 1885, University and National Library – 1887).

The 20^th and early 21^st centuries brought to life modern architecture. Contemporary city of Athens built over the past 40 years shows such styles as Bauhaus, Postmodernism and Hi-Tech. These include a unique Athens Olympic Sports Complex (2004) by Santiago Calatrava Valls, buildings by Alexandros N. Tombazis, modern intra-city highways and multilevel interchanges.