Panagiotis Touliatos

Panagiotis Touliatos is Emeritus Professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture at Frederick University, and Greece’s scientific lead and representative to CEN – Eurocode EC-5. Professionally, as an architect–engineer, he has focused on pioneering, non-conventional constructions with large structural spans, on composite systems using reinforced concrete, steel, and timber, and on structures with particular seismic and bioclimatic performance. He is the author of numerous scientific articles, teaching aids, and books, and he is active as coordinator of postgraduate and research programs -especially in the restoration of historic monuments and in contemporary structures with large spans and advanced bioclimatic operation.

S.M.: You are among the first architects in Greece to have worked systematically with the possibilities of engineered timber. What initially drew your interest to this material?

P.T.: In the early stages of my academic career, in the Building Technology area at NTUA, I focused particularly on prefabrication systems with reinforced concrete. From the 1980s onward, alongside teaching and research at NTUA, I regularly taught at the Fire Academy of Greece with the main objective of training Cadet Officers on issues of seismic risk. For decades we experienced Greece’s earthquakes together, observing and analyzing building failures, rescues, writing course notes and intervention guidelines, and carrying out experiments on earthquakes and building fires with both institutions. Already from my student years at NTUA, thanks to my inspiring professors such as Angelos Prokopiou and Pavlos Mylonas, I was drawn to the fascinating realm of humankind’s monumental structures.

Thus the view began to take shape in my mind that, for me as an architect–engineer to dare something new, bold, and useful in building practice, I must first approach in depth and understand the corresponding achievements of our past. Early on I discerned the potential of timber construction. This insight was reinforced by my long service in scientific bodies -on the one hand the Council of Europe (PACT 19) and UNESCO, and on the other the CEN Eurocodes (Greece’s representative on EC5 – Timber Structures) and the United Nations IDNDR (Greece’s representative to the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction). My continuous academic and research collaboration with universities in Central and Northern Europe -such as Turin, Florence, Mons in Belgium, Oulu in Finland, and in North America, such as Vancouver with the Florintec research center and Harvard in Boston -gave rise to both a question and a strong desire, a dream.

My question was this: how and why did a nation -a people, the Greeks- who had incredible technology combining timber and masonry in the prehistoric Minoan era; who built the formidable triremes, where I tried to contribute to deciphering the historical “Shell-First” shipbuilding system of the Greeks, and their siege engines; who used Byzantine timber banding in age-old castles and monasteries that I studied and continue to study; who created the remarkable manor houses that endure and adorn Greek architectural tradition -how did this people renounce timber construction, lose confidence in it, and abandon it? That is how I began.

S.M.: How easy was it to build your first projects when local know-how in timber was limited? What were the characteristics of the clients who accepted such a proposal and which crews did you work with?

P.T.: It was never easy. The first major opportunity -both for me and for introducing the Athenian public to contemporary timber construction- was “Autokinisi” in 1977, at a prominent location on Kifisias Avenue. I was asked by a group of entrepreneurs and friends to design a relatively large exhibition building, initially for automobiles, that would be attractive and relocatable from place to place. The building was so popular with the public that it was soon converted into a famous disco and became widely known. It thus served as a tangible example that in Greece, too, one could design, calculate, and build a large-scale building from glued-laminated timber (glulam). As with timber everywhere, in Greece it wins people’s sympathy. Above all, it showed that timber construction can yield contemporary typologies and morphologies and a highly progressive aesthetic. This view was reinforced when I designed and built “Kouros”, a tourist pavilion on the National Road after Livadeia, toward Delphi and Parnassos.

After these two buildings, one project after another facilitated the advancement in Greece of large-scale and boldly conceived timber structures. Various misconceptions that had unfortunately taken root collapsed. It became clear that timber construction is fully competitive economically -evidenced by success in demanding architectural competitions such as the large swimming complex for the students of the Hellenic American College in Kantza, Attica, or the three Olympic gymnasiums in Greece’s most seismically active areas -Argostoli, Lefkada, and Loutraki- where a seismic fault passed through the building causing damage only to the floor. It was proven that timber construction is robust enough to protect, as a wooden shell, a two-story reinforced-concrete structure under the harsh conditions at the summit of Parnassos.

Its unique capacity for bioclimatic and energy design was also confirmed -for example, with the electrically operable roof of the swimming pool in Pallini. Implementation, however, was never easy. First, the design team had to decide that all significant details of the proposal would be resolved from the preliminary design stage. At the same time and from the outset, the architect had to shape the usually non-standard structural members in close, timely collaboration with the structural engineer. Contractor teams were unable to adapt to the required millimetric precision of construction details. Manufacturers were, at times, unconvinced about producing in strict compliance with European codes and specifications. The solution came from my two brothers: they formed a small crew, trained it by working manually themselves, thereby enabling the proper implementation of my designs.

S.M.: You have been a member of the scientific team that drafted the Eurocodes. Could you briefly explain the aim of this work and what trends it suggests for the future of construction in Europe?

P.T.: I represented Greece in Eurocode 5 – Timber Structures during its drafting and later during its implementation phase in Greece. The Eurocodes constitute a historic European effort in the field of structural design calculations. A major success of the Eurocodes, in my view, is that they placed on an equal footing load-bearing structures of masonry, timber, steel, and reinforced concrete, also adding the case of composite construction. Thus, within this pan-European scientific group, we managed to establish and disseminate among architects and engineers the motto: “In a building, use in each part the structural material that suits and performs best -without prejudice and without fear of collaboration- while ensuring the correct method of implementing that collaboration.” I believe that this, above all, re-emphasizes the message carried by the Greek word “ypologismós” (calculation): namely, that mathematical quantification must remain under the sovereignty of reasoned design each time.

Read the full interview in ek issue 267 | May 2022.