Title: NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE IN GREECE Author: MANOS BIRIS Format: Hardback Details: When Greece was liberated from the Ottoman empire in 1832 following a ten-year war of independence, the new cultural dawn meant new architectural styles. The prevailing European neoclassical style thus returned to Athens where classicism had originated over 2,000 years previously. This gorgeous book traces the development of neoclassical architecture in Greece, examining its distinctive forms and arguing that it had a variety of different origins rather than being imposed wholesale by the new regime in 1832. Starting with the reappraisal of classical styles during the Enlightenment, the authors stress the connection between external classical order and the internal organisation of space. Athens was the centre of the new neo-classicism and the brief was not only to reconstruct the damaged capital but also to create a monumentalism worthy of the new Greek state. The University, started in 1839, with its central Ionic porch and colour frieze, is exemplary in its handling of classical order and the functional design of interiors. The Arsakeion girls' school is an example of a more austere classicism, while the Eye Hospital demonstrates Byzantine influence. The monumental reading room of the National Library is one of the finest European classical interiors. A more ornate classicism was characteristic of later facades, such as the house at 24 Nikis Street. The authors conclude with the transition to modernism, where the spare lines of austere classicism integrated seamlessly with the streamlining of a machine-age Art Deco aesthetic. Superbly illustrated, the book has colour reproductions on almost every page. 312pp, bibliography. Published Price: £75.00 BIBLIOPHILE PRICE: £12.00

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