ΑΠΟΤΥΠΩΜΑΤΑ
What about our marbles ?
You live in Athens but have you paid attention to the buildings of the city ?
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ΑΠΟΤΥΠΩΜΑΤΑ
What about our marbles ?
Athens and London have agreed to “ tone down the rhetoric ”, writes the Sunday Times of London , citing a Greek official , about the Athens - London talks to the issue of the return of the Parthenon sculptures .
Greece claims to be on the verge of a “ win-win ” deal with the British museum for the sculptures , which are expected to start returning to Athens before the end of the year , the British newspaper reports .
A senior British official said that the ” red lines ” over ownership of the antiquities are immovable and suggested a new “ British museum Annex ” at the Acropolis Museum as one of several possible solutions .
Ahead of the next round of talks led by reformer Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne , now chairman of the British museum , and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis , the source acknowledged that obstacles remain .
“ But we are optimistic that an agreement will be reached by the end of the year , with the first part of the sculptures being transferred to Athens at the same time , the official said . British sources said , however , that the idea of a “ British museum Annex ” has not been formally discussed and there is no timetable .
Last week , the Greek opposition ’ s culture spokeswoman ruled out any deal that did not make it clear that the sculptures belonged to Greece .
The British culture minister , Michelle Donelan , believes that the sculptures belong to Britain and that sending them to Greece would be a “ dangerous road ”. “ It would open Aeolus pouch for the entire contents of our museums .”
Public opinion in Britain , however , seems to align with that in Greece . A YouGov last year found that nearly 60 % of Britons believed the sculptures belonged in Athens .
ANNA PAPACHRISTOU , Γ4
You live in Athens but have you paid attention to the buildings of the city ?
( Some thoughts about the city )
We often walk around in the streets of Athens . However , have we ever paid real attention to the modern architecture in our city ? The average person automatically connects Athens with ancient buildings , such as the Parthenon . Nonetheless , neoclassical architecture indeed abounds in the centre of Athens . Particularly , a plethora of domestic buildings reflect Bauhaus and Modernist influences , where geometric design is applied .
Take for example the American Embassy in Athens : it was designed by the father of Bauhaus , Walter Gropius himself . Moreover , a building that approaches the Modernist influence is the new Acropolis Museum , created by Bernard Tschumi and Michael Photiades . It is vivid proof of the existence of modern Athens . Something quite authentic and original in the architecture of that building is that it has natural light , since it possesses a large number of windows , which enable the place to be really bright , mostly the top floor .
What ’ s more , there are also buildings , such as The Hilton Athens , which , although finished in the second half of the 20th century , are of modern design , thus are considered to be architectural landscapes . Last but not least , the architecture met in the National Museum of Contemporary Art is undoubtedly a creative and authentic one , since it is characterized by brightly colored facades .
Thus , I am inclined to think that the co-existence of both ancient and modern architecture in Athens is striking . A walk around will definitely prove that .
PANAYIOTIS PAPANIKOLAOU , Γ1