Few professions have shown a greater commitment to our collective futures than architecture. History is abound with examples that pushed society forward: Hagia Sophia, the Pantheon, the Empire State Building, for instance. Perhaps that is why, since its inception in 2011, The Ellinikon in Athens, Greece, has been turning heads—in seemingly sunny defiance of the country’s 2009 economic collapse and geopolitical woes.
On paper, the sprawling 1,532-acre Ellinikon promises to be Europe’s largest urban regeneration project. By 2025, when phase one of three is scheduled for completion, it will stitch an all-new public park (dubbed The Ellinikon Park) the size of Monaco into a new business district, residential community, and coastal attraction. And all of it will be done with the implementation of the most advanced smart infrastructure available for a sustainable future. If this seems like a daunting task, it is. That’s why the developers brought to the table masterminds Kengo Kuma, Fosters + Partners, Aedas, and Sasaki, whose collective experience radiates throughout the project.
Much of the project is being built on the massive plot of land that was once Athen’s former international airport. Opened in 1938, the Ellinikon International Airport was in many ways the embodiment of 20th-century Europe. During World War II, the Germans and Italians occupied Greece, turning the air site into a place to house Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe. Later, in the decade following the mid-1950s, Greece enjoyed its golden period of modern travel. This allowed visitors from all corners to experience the country’s glistening beaches and historic archaeological sites for the first time. A new East Terminal building, designed by the renowned Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, soon arrived.
By the late 20th century, cracks in the Greek economy began to show, and by 2001 the airport officially closed. This led the space to be converted into stadiums and other facilities for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Then the 2007 global financial crisis exposed the country’s serious economic strife. Locals yearned for brighter days and a reason to be optimistic.
If architecture has a defining creed, it’s that we build because in the end we believe in what’s to come. “Our team truly believes this moment is similar to New York City before Central Park, or London before Hyde Park,” says Odisseas Athanasiou, CEO of LAMDA Development, the company overseeing the massive urban renewal project. “The Ellinikon is one of those distinctly unique projects that will completely remake the face of a city.”