papalampropoulos + syriopoulou reveal proposal for new ministry building in athens, greece

leonidas papalampropoulos and georgia syriopoulou have revealed ‘ἀρχεῖον’, their proposal for the design of the new office building of the general secretariat of infrastructures in athens, greece. the project attempts to critically examine the semantic meaning of the symbolic language that is frequently utilized in federal building design, by focusing rather on the archetypical origin of its primary elements than on the representational quality of its symbols.

view from peiraeus av.
all images courtesy of leonidas papalampropoulos and georgia syriopoulou

the proposal by papalampropoulos and syriopoulou traces back to the conceptual and typological reference of the ‘ἀρχεῖον’ (archive): the residence of the governor where all the public documents were kept. the greek term for archive bears a double meaning as both a ‘starting point’ and ‘public authority’. in contrast to the theatricality of the ‘vouleftirion’ (legislative authority), the building of the ‘ἀρχεῖον’ (executive power) is characterized by the generic structure of the residence which is affiliated typologicaly with the unified and compact body of the archive (the body of documents). the convergence of the layout with the compact archive through the principle of repetition of the module leads to the production of a generic space which characterizes the conceptual and spatial origin of the archetype.

the office spaces

the public gallery

the entrance to the gallery, approached from the train station

the modulus & the body

plans

sections & elevations

masterplan

axonometric

sustainability design

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom