The architectural event “Nikos Ktenas – Topologies” was successfully held on December 12 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) Lighthouse, to a full audience. Organized by ek magazine under the auspices of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, the event highlighted the profound contribution of Nikos Ktenas to contemporary Greek architecture, architectural education, and culture. Through a series of presentations, key aspects of his built and teaching work in Greece, Italy, and Switzerland were brought to the foreground.

The symposium opened with a short excerpt from the television program “Urban Landscape”, dedicated to Nikos Ktenas. The first speaker, Panayotis Tournikiotis, Professor Emeritus at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and President of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, placed Ktenas’s work within the broader legacy of modern rationalism. He was followed by Pierre-Alain Croset, Professor at the Politecnico di Milano, who addressed Ktenas’s teaching activity in Milan and at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio.

The influence of the Ticino School on Nikos Ktenas’s architecture – particularly its distinctive approach to the relationship between modern architecture and place – was explored by Rena Sakellaridou, Professor Emerita at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Afterwards, Manolis Stavrakakis, Assistant Professor at NTUA, reflected on his dialogues with Ktenas, offering an interpretation of his work through alternative forms of spatial representation, including visual poetry, the visual arts, and video.

Dimitris Philippidis, Professor Emeritus at NTUA, recalled his formative encounter with Ticino architecture during the period of Ktenas’s presence there, while photographer Erieta Attali spoke about the beginning of her engagement with architectural photography through documenting his buildings and their relationship to the landscape. Ariadne Vozani, Professor at NTUA, analyzed the multiple references that informed Ktenas’s work and the ways in which they coalesced into a distinct architectural identity.

A detailed account of the educational experience at the Politecnico di Milano was presented by Elena Fontanella and Lorenzo Guzzini, who reflected on their time as students and later as teaching assistants to Nikos Ktenas, accompanied by archival photographic material. The event concluded with Katerina Vasilakou, architect and long-standing collaborator of Nikos Ktenas in Greece for nearly two decades, who shed light on both his architectural practice and his human qualities, sharing personal experiences and anecdotes from their close professional relationship.

On the occasion of the event, ek Architectural Publications released the first edition of the new bilingual volume “Nikos Ktenas Architecture | Topologies”, edited by Ariadne Vozani and Katerina Vasilakou. The book presents the complete catalogue of Nikos Ktenas’s works, featuring ten selected projects documented through drawings and photographs, alongside archival material and an extensive unpublished interview conducted by Panos Tsakopoulos for ek magazine in 2018.

Sponsors: AHI Carrier, Alumil, Europa, Halo Architectural Lighting

Stage Design Sponsor: MOROSO by Casa di Patsi

Supporters: Acrilan, Elval Colour, KEBE, Koligas Wood, Pirotek, PNM Construction, Rouchotas, VIEW Frames

Hospitality Sponsor: Electra Rhythm Athens

Wine Sponsor: Zacharias Wine

Media Sponsor: News24|7

Photos: Aleko Syntelis for ek Magazine

“I believe that architecture is, above all, a spiritual process—or, as Louis Kahn so aptly put it, a ‘…search into the nature of human existence’.”

— Nikos Ktenas, July 2007

The event is fully booked

ek magazine, with the support of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, will host an event honoring architect Nikos Ktenas at the SNFCC in December 2025. Nikos Ktenas, Associate Professor at the School of Architecture of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), passed away in July 2022, during the most mature and creatively productive phase of his professional and academic career.

He was an architect with an international presence and a characteristic consistency of work between theory and practice. He taught in the United States and Europe, collaborated with Luigi Snozzi at the EPF Lausanne and was a professor at the Politecnico di Milano, Mendrisio and the National Technical University of Athens. His work, recognizable for its geometric purity and deep connection with the place, has been showcased in important European institutions, including the Pavillon de l’Arsenal in Paris and the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam. He had repeatedly distinguished himself in Greek and international competitions and was twice nominated for the European Mies van der Rohe Award. In 2017, he was awarded the first prize of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture for the project Inside-Out in Neo Psychiko.

Through a series of presentations by invited speakers, the event will seek to highlight his significant contributions to contemporary Greek architecture, architectural education, and cultural discourse.

Speakers:

Sponsors: AHI Carrier, Alumil, Europa, Halo Architectural Lighting

Stage Design Sponsor: MOROSO by Casa di Patsi

Supporters: Acrilan, Elval Colour, KEBE, Koligas Wood, Pirotek, PNM Construction, Rouchotas, VIEW Frames

Hospitality Sponsor: Electra Rhythm Athens

Wine Sponsor: Zacharias Wine

Media Sponsor: News24|7

The event is fully booked

The launch of the new issue of the Japanese architecture magazine “a+u” dedicated to Point Supreme Architects (Marianna Rentzou, Konstantinos Pantazis), is taking place on Thursday, June 15th 2023 at 19:30 at Hyper Hypo bookstore in Athens.
It is the first time that such an important international architecture publication dedicates a whole issue to a Greek architecture studio. The publication’s 168 pages present a selection of Athens Projects,  20 built projects and 5 texts by important colleagues who analyze the works. The presentation will be in Greek. There will be limited copies of the issue for sale. Concurrently, there will be an exhibition in the store’s project space underground, with photos of the works.
A party will follow.

Rolex is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative and its commitment to the arts worldwide over the years. For the first time, the company will bring this programme and dozens of the world’s most talented artists who excel in their art to Athens in a celebration of the legacy of 20 years of mentoring.

The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative holds a special place within the Perpetual Arts Initiative. It encompasses a distinctive and unique vision of mentoring – generous and global – that plays a tangible role in promoting excellence and the future of the arts.

The mentoring programme, recognized as an initiative with unparalleled respect and legitimacy, has become a universal reference in artistic circles where it is linked to the genuine commitment of Rolex as a true patron of culture. It provides new artists with the opportunity to be supported by masters in their fields and the confidence they need to recognize and reveal their full creative potential. Additionally, the programme helps safeguard the world’s artistic heritage.

Over two decades, a remarkable artistic community has been built, encouraging an international dialogue across cultures and disciplines that helps the Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative realize its main objective: the transmission of knowledge to new generations of artists on a global scale. The Athens event is both a true manifestation and celebration of this life-changing programme.

Festival performances and events

Today, Rolex announced that multidisciplinary performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, installations, and discussions will share the achievements and ongoing creative relationships of more than 60 Rolex protégés and mentors. It will fill stages, galleries, and public spaces at nine venues in Athens – the cradle of arts and learning – for a full week in spring 2023 with more than 30 performances and events, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. The Rolex Arts Festival, spanning dance, theatre, music, film, architecture, visual arts and literature, and showcasing a generation of outstanding international artists who have advanced their work with the support of Rolex, will be presented to the public from 26 to 28 May. A special pre-festival programme, dedicated to the people of Athens and organized to engage Greek artists, arts professionals and young people, will be offered from 22 to 25 May.

In presenting a dazzling array of works by the Rolex fellows (former protégés) from 26 to 28 May, as well as public conversations among the fellows and acclaimed mentors – many living legends – the Rolex Arts Festival seeks to inspire those in the Greek capital at the heart of the world’s culture. The festival will also be a vivid demonstration of the commitment to reach for the pinnacle of performance that drives Rolex to support individuals and organizations in the arts. This continuous pursuit of excellence, symbolized by the word ‘Perpetual’, underpins every aspect of Rolex’s activities – from its watchmaking to its many partnerships.

In keeping with this mission, the pre-festival programme presented from 22 to 25 May will feature the participation of dozens of Greek artists in 14 free public and professionalevents. A distinguished eight-member Greek Advisory Committee has provided counsel and assistance in organizing all aspects of the Rolex Arts Festival, which is being curated by independent arts advisor and programmer Emma Gladstone OBE, former Artistic Programmer at Sadler’s Wells in London and former Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Dance Umbrella.

“To bring the public just some of the wealth of multidisciplinary achievements that have been fostered by the Rolex mentoring programme, we issued an open call to all Rolex fellows to participate by presenting works,” said Rebecca Irvin, head of the mentoring programme at Rolex. “The response was overwhelming and unanimous. We at Rolex are moved and excited by the outpouring of creative energy and the spirit of communal engagement that the fellows will be offering in Athens.” Gladstone commented, “There is astonishing generosity in the range of work that the Rolex fellows will be showing the people of Athens – a generosity matched by the invaluable relationships that the mentors formed with these fellows, and by the contributions of Rolex in initiating and supporting this special endeavour. To honour this generosity across the 20 years of the Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, the Rolex Arts Festival will highlight three broad themes: the relationship of sharing at the core of the programme, the impact of this sharing on the fellows, and the ongoing artistic legacy that the fellows are now creating around the world.”

Highlights of the Rolex Arts Festival

Events and presentations in the Rolex Arts Festival will be offered to the general public at minimal cost, with ticket proceeds going to the partner institutions for their arts programmes.
The activities will include:

• A group exhibition at EMST (National Museum of Contemporary Art) by the eight Rolex visual arts fellows – Sammy Baloji, Alejandro Cesarco, Masanori Handa, Nicholas Hlobo, Mateo López, Thao Nguyen Phan, Camila Rodríguez Triana and Matthias Weischer – with an introductory talk moderated by mentor Carrie Mae Weems.

• A group exhibition at Benaki Pireos 138 of work by all Rolex architecture fellows – Sahel Alhiyari, Gloria Cabral, Mariam Issoufou Kamara, Simon Kretz and Yang Zhao – with an introductory talk moderated by mentor Sir David Chipperfield.

• A screening in the courtyard of Benaki Pireos 138 of short films by Rolex arts fellows Aditya Assarat, Kyle Bell, Sara Fgaier, Annemarie Jacir, Josué Méndez, Celina Murga, Agustina San Martín, Tom Shoval and Chaitanya Tamhane.

• Two theatrical presentations: The Case of the Stranger by Rolex arts fellow Whitney White at the Athens Conservatoire, with a post-show talk featuring Rolex mentor Phyllida Lloyd, and [÷] v.0.8: Boléro, a solo performance at Ω2 Complex by arts fellow Sebastián Solórzano Rodríguez.

• Two dance events at the Athens Conservatoire: a performance by Rolex arts fellow Khoudia Touré with an ensemble of Greek and international dancers, and a double bill featuring arts fellow Eduardo Fukushima in a solo performance and a duet choreographed by fellow Myles Thatcher.

• Two music events: a sound installation performance at Megaron’s Trianti Hall Side Stage by Rolex music fellow Ben Frost, and a closing concert at Megaron Gardens featuring ensembles from Egypt, Honduras and the UnitedStates led by fellows Dina Elwedidi, Marcus Gilmore and Aurelio Martínez, with a guest appearance by mentor Gilberto Gil.

• Four installation works at the Athens Conservatoire by Rolex fellows Selina Cartmell (theatre), Matías Umpierrez (theatre), Federico León (theatre) and Jason Akira Somma (dance).

• A music commission and performance, Artemis: Fountain, created for the Dancing Fountains at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, by Rolex music fellow Pauchi Sasaki.

• A Word in Your Ear: writings by all Rolex literature fellows – Naomi Alderman, Antonio García Ángel, Edem Awumey, Colin Barrett, Julían Fuks, Julia Leigh, Miroslav Penkov and Tracy K. Smith – read in English and Greek by noted actors, introduced at a presentation in the Athens Conservatoire Amphitheatre and available for digital download throughout the Rolex Arts Festival.

Additional events

Two special “Sideways Mentoring” events will show how Rolex fellows are now inspiring each other and working in collaboration across disciplines. At Ω2 Complex film fellow Annemarie Jacir and literature fellow Colin Barrett will present a film script they are developing, with selected scenes interpreted by actors. At NewStage, Maya Zbib (theatre), Lee Serle (dance), and Mateo López (visual arts) will present Listening to the Walls Wear Off Their Colour, a dance theatre performance they have created.
Public discussions presented throughout the Rolex Arts Festival will be:

• New Legacies: Four fellows (names to be confirmed) in a conversation about the social, cultural, and ecological impact of their creative work.

• Creative Alchemy: Three fellows and three mentors (names to be confirmed) in a conversation about the elusive yet essential qualities that spark a creative relationship, moderated by Orestis Andreadakis, Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

• Lifelong Learning: Three established artists (names to be confirmed) who have guided and inspired fellow artists, sharing reflections and memories about the people that influenced them in their own lives.

The Rolex Arts Festival will also include a Gala evening at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, where the 20th anniversary ceremony will feature performances by music fellows David Aaron Carpenter, Vasco Mendonça and Susan Platts, with music fellow Josep Caballé Domenech conducting the El Sistema Greece Youth Orchestra, and the participation of the Greek women’s a capella
ensemble Chores.

It should be noted that the majority of the festival will be in English with Greek translation available (where appropriate). Film and video works will have Greek and English subtitles. All readings in the digital audio project A Word in Your Ear will be available in Greek and English.

The Pre-Festival Programme to the Rolex Arts Festival

Leading up to the Rolex Arts Festival, the four-day pre-festival programme (22–25 May) will include day-long workshops, masterclasses, public talks, musical performances and rehearsals, and more, involving dozens of Greek artists, Rolex fellows and mentors including Anne Lacaton, Phyllida Lloyd, Robert Lepage, Walter Murch and Colm Tóibín.
The Advisory Committee for both the festival and pre-festival programmes consists of: Eleftheria Deko (cross-disciplinary artist working in lighting design for performance, architecture and art), Katerina Evangelatos (Artistic Director of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival), Sofia Exarchou (writer-director of the 2016 awardwinning film Park), Katerina Gregos (Artistic Director of EMST, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens), Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis (drummer, composer and orchestrator), Euripides Laskaridis (choreographer/performer, founder of the Osmosis company), Ilias Papageorgiou (architect, founder and principal of the PILA studio) and Kostas Spatharakis (editor, translator and founder of Antipodes Publications).

ABOUT THE ROLEX MENTOR AND PROTÉGÉ ARTS INITIATIVE

Established in 2002 to assist in the transfer of knowledge from one generation of artists to the next, the mentoring programme is based on the belief that art is a continuum, an accumulation of past experiences over generations, and that all artists are inspired by those who went before them. In keeping with the Rolex tradition of encouraging individual excellence, younger artists of exceptional promise – the protégés – are given the rare opportunity to spend significant periods of time in creative exchange with world-renowned artists in their particular field – the mentors – on a one-to-one basis. The programme today encompasses the disciplines of architecture, dance, film, literature, music, theatre and visual arts. There is also a variable, or “open category”, mentorship that can take place in other fields or in an interdisciplinary pursuit. These mentorships are grouped in alternating periods according to discipline.

The mentors who have so far given of their time and vast talent are among the world’s greatest artists. They are: Sir David Adjaye, Margaret Atwood, (the late) John Baldessari, Tahar Ben Jelloun, (the late) Trisha Brown, (the late) Patrice Chéreau, Sir David Chipperfield, Mia Couto, Alfonso Cuarón, (the late) Sir Colin Davis, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Olafur Eliasson, Brian Eno, (the late) Hans Magnus Enzensberger, William Forsythe, Stephen Frears, Gilberto Gil, Philip Glass, Alejandro G. Inárritu, (the late) Sir Peter Hall, David Hockney, Rebecca Horn, Zakir Hussain, Joan Jonas, Sir Anish Kapoor, William Kentridge, Jiří Kylián, Robert Lepage, Lin Hwai-min, Phyllida Lloyd, Spike Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, (the late) Toni Morrison, Walter Murch, Ohad Naharin, Mira Nair, Youssou N’Dour, (the late) Jessye Norman, Michael Ondaatje, Crystal Pite, Alexei Ratmansky, Kaija Saariaho, Martin Scorsese, Kazuyo Sejima, Peter Sellars, Álvaro Siza, Wole Soyinka, Julie Taymor, Saburo Teshigawara, Jennifer Tipton, Colm Tóibín, Kate Valk, Mario Vargas Llosa, Carrie Mae Weems, Robert Wilson, Zhang Yimou, Pinchas Zukerman and Peter Zumthor.

The Hellenic Institute of Architecture, in strategic partnership with ek magazine, launches the 10^th Biennale of Young Greek Architects in December 2021, on the last floor of the Doxiadis Associates Building in Lycabettus, catching up with the momentum of its ongoing transition into One Athens housing development, designed by Divercity Architects. Most of the properties are owned by SODIA Capital Management, and sales have been exclusively assigned to Engel & Völkers Greece.

The opening event will take place on Friday, December 17, 2021, at 18:00 and the exhibition will remain open from December 18, 2021, until January 17, 2022.

The Biennale is a recurring documentation of the best current ideas among young designers, highlighting selected works as the most notable, showcasing the trend of each two-year timeframe through the choices of each jury.

The 10^th Biennale has an anniversary character, as it takes place 25 years after the launch of the 1^st Biennale which took place in 1995, concurrent with the inauguration of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture. The institutional establishment of the Biennale a quarter century ago was a fundamental initiative of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, to encourage young architects to showcase their work through exhibitions, talks, and publications. During those 25 years, hundreds of young architects have participated, many among which were later distinguished in the professional and academic fields.

The 82 entries at the 10^th Biennale were sourced from all over Greece, with an impressive contingent of projects outside the borders, mainly from Cyprus, as well as New York City, Copenhagen, Strasbourg, Mozambique, and Vietnam.

Such approaches remind us of young architects who can move outside of conventions and passing trends; instead, they appear through their work, highlighting creativity, global values, and the social dimension of architecture, looking towards the truly “new” through historical continuity and its subversion.

Will this generation succeed in leaving its own architectural mark upon space and time? Perhaps this year’s exhibition, at the mutating modern “monument” of One Athens, has its own symbolic significance.

The five-member jury includes the architects: Kostas Adamakis, Nikos Vratsanos, Zissis Kotionis, Dimitris Potiropoulos, and Sofia Tsiraki.

The most cherished architectural celebration in the city returns this year, as an online event. The OHA 2021 program, includes 20 videos that will premiere from June 24^th to June 27^th, and will remain available on the Open House Athens YouTube channel; further, the program includes one livestream event, one 3d virtual tour and many competitions for the audience!

The program, in a nutshell:

LIVESTREAM | June 24th

https://www.openhouseathens.gr/event/livestream/

Registrations: here.

OPEN OFFICE | premiere June 25^th

Guided tour in five architectural offices in Athens: Workshop | Dionisis Sotovikis, Bobotis + Bobotis Architects, R|C|TECH, Tsolakis Architects, Aristides Dallas Architects.

3D Virtual Tour | premiere June 25^th

A virtual tour in Workshop | Dionisis Sotovikis

VIRTUAL TOURS | premiere 26/6

Virtual tours in 10 contemporary buildings in Athens, on the Open House Athens Youtube channel. Featured works: Cosmote HQ & TV Studios by LC Architects, Apartment in Faliro by Plaini and Karahalios Architects, Penthouse in Vouliagmeni by Synama, Ogarden Suites by A31 Architecture, HOUSE E by Burger Katsota Architects, Obliquity by Gavalas Architects, The den by Studiomateriality, NBG Insurance by Mario Botta, SPARCH (Rena Sakellaridou & Morpho Papanikolaou), House in Politia by A & O Architects, Villa 13 by Parthenios architects+associates.

More info: https://www.openhouseathens.gr/event/virtual-tours/

MADE IN ATHENS | premiere June 27^th

Guided tours in creative spaces in Athens. The videos will be uploaded on the OHA 2021 webpage and will remain available on the Open House Athens Youtube channel.

Participants: Alexandra Bissa, Tind, Alexia Kokkinou Bookbinding, Sektor30, Stratis Tavlaridis.

Competitions:

OPEN YOUR PORTFOLIO | June 7^th – July 16^th

Win a scholarship at Vakalo Art&Design College for undergraduate design studies. The scholarship covers the academic year 2021-22 (€7.000) and may be extended to the full BA cycle (€19.000) on merit and achievement. More information: https://www.openhouseathens.gr/event/open-your-portfolio/

FABER OPEN PHOTO | June 24-30^th

Photography competition on Instagramm with the hashtag #faber_oha2021.

More information: https://www.openhouseathens.gr/event/open-photo/

ISOMAT OPEN VOTE | June 25^th-July 7^th

Win a Fujifilm instax mini 11. by voting online at the Open Office, Virtual Tours and Made in Athens categories. More information: https://www.openhouseathens.gr/event/open-vote/

Follow the Open House Athens YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/openhouseathens-2014

After three years of research and development, RUINS SERIES, exclusively commissioned by Carwan Gallery is finally unveiled in Athens in June 2021

Carwan Gallery, in collaboration with IN Residence and Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, is pleased to present RUINS, a body of work by Roberto Sironi. The project, developed since 2017 and the result of four years of research, is enriched by a series of new works that complete the collection.

Ruins features a series of works that re-signify architectural fragments belonging to different historical periods and which refer to the most significant archaeological sites placed in the Mediterranean basin.

The project relates some constructive elements of the classical era as bases of columns, capitals, sections of amphitheatre with rudiments of the industrial era, such as the double-T beams, reticular structural elements and corrugated sheet metal, which are reshaped according to a new aesthetic perspective

The collection is conceived as a series of contemporary ruins, freely deconstructed and reconstructed, imaginary simulacra, programmed artifices where the materials and techniques of execution do not correspond to the original but rather become functional to the post-archaeological message conveyed, transmitting a feeling of “Indefinite time” that becomes hypothetical, evanescent, suspended.

Roberto Sironi got the opportunity to develop RUINS thanks to the selection of the international residency program IN Residence Design, curated by Barbara Brondi and Marco Rainò and to produce the works with bronze experts Fonderia Artistica Battaglia and Simone Desirò, Marmi Artificiali di Rima.

The project is also illustrated by a monographic publication curated by Barbara Brondi and Marco Rainò and published by NERO Editions, 2020.

Duration: June 3-August 28, 2021.

TEDxNTUA 2021 with the theme “UBUNTU” will take place in a different form from the usual events so far. Adapting to the conditions of the pandemic, TEDxNTUA’s organizing team had to avoid a sealed amphitheater as the venue of the event, and after so many virtual events in recent months, the idea of ​​Open Air Cinema was the ideal choice for the main stage of this year.

On Saturday, May 29, at the industrial space of Metallourgeio in Kerameikos, Piraeus 127, keeping the required distances, wearing a mask, and also having done a covid-19 test earlier, you can experience an original TEDx event live, presented by Dimitris Makalias. -This year’s theme?-“UBUNTU”!Ubuntu means “I am because you are” and is an African proverb. It is this broad and multifaceted notion of unity, humanity, wholeness, solidarity and faith in a universal bond that unites all of humanity.What does ubuntu really mean and how many things can it connect to?How does every little act affect our fellow man?How do we all connect with each other?Does that mean we are all equal?

The conference is divided into two parts, the side events and the main event. Both parts will take place on May 29 at Metallourgeio, in Kerameikos. The side events will take place in the morning and they include the workshops that our team has chosen, to approach the subject in a more interactive and creative way, a photo exhibition as well as a sculpture exhibition. The main event will take place in the afternoon of the same day and is a screening of cinematically recorded speeches and riveting performances. Along with the live event, there will be an online streaming of the event on our website TEDxNTUA.

In order to be a part of this, secure your spot through our site TEDxNTUA.

The shooting of the speeches and the performances of the central event took place at the “Miltiadis Evert” Amphitheater in Technopolis.

ek magazine is a media partner of the event.

Facebook: TEDxNTUA

Instagram: tedxntua

LinkedIn: TEDxNTUA

Arxcellence 2, the architectural competition for a new Central Business District in Thessaloniki, hosted by Alumil, reached 1464 registrations from 90 countries, and 173 architectural entries were submitted for evaluation. The evaluation process was held online, involving an international Jury, that concluded in 6 prizes and 4 ex aequo mentions; those 10 projects were deemed as the most responsive to the relevant UIA guidelines.

On February 23^rd, 2021, the online award ceremony will provide architects with the stage for debating their innovative ideas. Furthermore, a physical forum is scheduled for the month of June, where the international jury members will elaborate on their outlook upon the competition.

To follow the online award ceremony, you may register here.

Furthermore, you may watch the ceremony on Facebook, through live streaming.

Ek magazine is a media partner of the competition.

The ek exhibition pavilion, designed by Workroom2 Architecture – Alexandra Nikolaou, won the Visitors’ Choice Award for pavilions up to 20m² at this year’s 100% Hotel Show Pavilions Competition.

The pavilion was designed on the idea that the magazine, as well as architecture, are in perpetual evolution. To illustrate this concept, the architect staged an illusion technique using mirrors: the pavilion gives the impression of an endless tunnel, through the repetition of its structural frames, which results in the expansion of perspective depth. Initially, the structure appears bare, with its metallic supports made visible; progressively, the structural frame is dressed in mass, and shelters the exhibition space. Two wooden sideboards in the shape of a console, feature the magazines as if they were a museum exhibit. The materials chosen for the pavilion are coarse black sheet metal and MDF, to provide each magazine issue with better visibility.

This year’s Prizes were awarded to those pavilions that stood out in the visitors’ poll at the previous 100% Hotel Show exhibition and were delegated according to size. The winner of the “50+ m²” Category was Bagno y Bagno, and the “20-50 m²” Prize was awarded to Vagenas Contract Materials. The Awards ceremony was hosted by the 100% Hotel Show Exhibition organizer, Mr. Dimitrios Antonakos. Introducing the Pavilions Competition, where a visitors’ ballot runs all through the exhibition, saw a progressive surge in the quality of the pavilions’ design: Each year, the exhibition appears ever improving, and offers an exceptionally high-level experience to its many visitors. As a matter of course, ek is a media sponsor of the exhibition.

The most impressive 100% Hotel Show of all time begins on November 15th, 2019!

Reaching its seventh year, the 100% Hotel Show is preparing its most impressive event, which will be held on 15-18 November at Mediterranean Exhibition Center (MEC) in Peania, evolving its basic structure into something completely new to the Greek exhibition standards!

The 100% Hotel Show is now the top exhibition for Hoteliers (especially for medium and high-class accommodation, boutique hotels, villas, etc.) and new investments in Greece and Cyprus. Reaching the 30,000 visits in its previous event, and having already achieved 6 successful years with a steady upward progress, the 100% Hotel Show is going through this year’s major change that will turn it into a show, in which the hotelier will not only find solutions for his hotel, from the Design to its Digital Marketing, but will also cover other important issues such as the operational needs of their accommodation (e.g. finding personnel), its practical training on key issues and the presentation of new ideas that may increase the call for new markets.

The Importance of the 100% Hotel Show’s date

November is the ideal month for the hotelier to organize for the next year and make the right decisions about the evolution of his product. The 100% Hotel Show chooses the third weekend of November (15-18/11/2019), in order to better serve the hoteliers, as for many hotel owners the season has just ended and there is a good time until the beginning of December, when the “holiday season” begins. On the same time, the turning point of the 100% Hotel Show’s date is connected with other major exhibitions such as WTM London, helping both hoteliers and companies to organize a “fair road trip” that will provide the best guarantees for 2020.

What’s changing in the 100% Hotel Show 2019?

Like every institution that respects the audience that follows it, the 100% Hotel Show is evolving its experience according to the global trends, but also through the visitor’s own comments. Together with the developments in the Greek Hotel Market, the 100% Hotel Show presents a renewed exhibition structure designed to provide meaningful answers to key hotel questions.

Emphasis on Hotel Decoration as well as on renewed proposals for Architectural and Construction solutions

For the first time, Hotel Decoration, a brand new part of the exhibition will be presented, with a careful selection of companies that will provide smart solutions and suggestions. As the part of the renovation process is now particularly important, and in conjunction with Hotel Decoration, Architecture, Build & Materials is expected to present new solutions to the site remodeling, while the Furniture and Fabrics section welcomes Housekeeping equipment as a new proposal of the exhibition. With the 100% Hotel Show presenting the widest range of solutions for the construction and renovation of a hotel, this year, a special room with exclusively architectural workshops will be set up for the first time and will be the reference point for the hotel architectural development.

Workshops put key issues in the center, focusing primarily on opening up new Hotels markets, as well as reducing operational costs

With 2019 being a controversial year on the dynamics of Greece as a tourist destination, the 100% Hotel Show will dedicate a large part of its Workshops on how hotels can reach new markets that will enhance their fullness without being dependent on stifling agreements. At the same time, as the management of operating costs in relation to the financial performance of an accommodation is of great interest, the organization will present a series of special workshops on this direction. Also, for the first time, the program of the 100% Hotel Workshop Tour, which was attended by more than 1800 hoteliers and architects in Greece and Cyprus between February and June 2019, will be presented during the 100% Hotel Show.

Exhibitors are in the process of selecting even more personalized hotel propositions to showcase their most recent and innovative ideas, while enhancing entries for finding and educating personnel

The special sections of the 100% Hotel Show, Digital & Sales, Gastronomy and Wellness are enormously successful, as the companies that participate in them present exclusively specialized solutions for the audience of the exhibition. In the same context, the other exhibitors are on the same page, trying to promote the most useful and applicable products and services for the Hotel Industry. In this way, the quality of the hotelier’s visit increases even more, while companies have better prospects for new deals. Meanwhile, since the finding and training of personnel is one of the most important needs for the modern hotelier, participations that provide a direct solution to this issue will be strengthened, while also presenting some special actions.

Save the date: 15 – 18 November 2019

The audience can get their free ticket in their personal visitor profile on www.hotelshow.gr, where the full Workshop program as well as the detailed exhibitors list will be posted shortly.

To Register as a Visitor click here.

Design Lab @ Bageion Hotel

Why Design Lab chose “Bageion” for its next event:

Design Lab 2019 will be held in an architectural, visual and historical treasure in the centre of Athens!

For this year’s event, The Design Lab team felt that it was necessary to bring the design back to the city centre, getting it closer to the creative offices, creators, professionals and citizens of Greece’s capital.

Thus, one of the most important buildings of Athens, Bageion, the neoclassical building that was designed by Ernest Ziller in the period 1890-1894 after a donation made by John Bagas (or Pangas) and is located in Omonia Square. An indicative of the historicity of the building is that Charilaos Trikoupis used to live at the same plot with his family, until 1883.

The design of the “Bageion” (as well as its twin building “Alexander the Great”, which was build a few years before) has in some ways marked a new era for Athenian hotels, in terms of size, interior layout and external form, bringing many innovations, such as the existence of an internal glass atrium, around which the rooms and other spaces are circularly arranged. From the outside, one can also see its characterized Caryate inserts and the characteristic red line, a trademark of Ziller, on the top floor.

Bageion functioned as a hotel and was originally a three-storey building, while the fourth floor was added in the early 20th century, when it was annexed to the diagonally opposite square building, at the corner of C. Septemvri Street.

In its basement, a coffee shop was located hosting patrons from all divisions of society who felt free there away from the conservatism of the time, while the spacious room, formerly said to function as a cafe santan, gradually evolved into a meeting place for intellectuals and writers: Napoleon Lapathiotis, Tellos Agras, Minos Zotos, Kostas Varnalis, Angelos Terzakis, Orestis Laskos, Costas Uranis, Yannis Ritsos, Yannis Tsarouchis are some of the personalities who used to frequently spend time there, shaping the new scene of post-war intellectuals and philological production.

After being informed about the availability of Bageion Hotel, the Design Lab Team immediately wanted to celebrate the 10 years of life and function of the emblematic design event, in an incomparable building that is Architectural, Visual and Historic Treasure!

An additional criterion for selecting Bageion Hotel for organizing the Design Lab 2019, was its geographical location. Omonia Square, the centre of mileage measurement in the city centre and generally in Greece, is a focal point for meeting people, residents, passers-by, tourists, etc. Its story is connected to design and important names of art, starting from Yannis Tsarouchis and his painting “Cafe Neon (Night)”, the fountain designed by George Zongolopoulos and the “Curator” of Costas Varotsos, to the Biennale of Athens and the Documenta exhibition.

Apart from the incomparable building and its geographical location, Design Lab 2019, at its 10th anniversary, is expected to be very exciting: a three-day atmospheric celebration of design and creativity is being prepared, combined with an intake of substantial knowledge and professional, high-level contacts.

The “puzzle” of Design Lab 2019’s actions is gradually starting to shape.

Stay tuned!

ek architectural publications, in collaboration with the Hellenic Institute of Architecture organized on Friday 7 December 2018 at the premises of SNFCC, an Architectural event to mark the 40 years of ISV Architects’ creative course. An evening dedicated to Babis Ioannou, Tasos Sotiropoulos and Alexander Van Gilder, who have in the last 40 years completed a series of distinct projects.

During the event, which was a great success attracting more than 600 attendees, distinguished professors of architecture and architects demonstrated, through their speeches, different approaches and interpretations of the contribution of ISV in the architecture of our country. Among others, the speakers referred to the different categories of the office’s body of work – residences, office buildings, hotels, retail – endeavouring to highlight their influence on younger generations of architects.

The event was coordinated by Stavros Martinos, architect and member of ek magazine’s editorial team, with the following speakers:
Dimitris Philippidis, Architect – Emeritus professor at NTUA, Elias Konstantopoulos, Architect – Professor at University of Patras – President of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, Tassis Papaioannou, Architect – Professor at NTUA, Ariadni Vozani, Architect – Associate Professor at NTUA – Editorial director of ek magazine, Nikolas Travasaros, Architect – Founding member of Divercity Architects and Tilemachos Andrianopoulos, Architect – Assistant Professor at NTUA – Founding member of Tense Architecture Network.

Babis Ioannou, Architect and founding member of ISV Architects, closed the event in a thank you speech entitled “Architecture of Well Being” where he touched upon the hard work behind this exciting result. The joys and disappointments; the necessity for man and his needs to always be in the forefront of their projects.

In the context of the event, a book with the same title was published, which was edited and prefaced by Ariadni Vozani and Elias Konstantopoulos, presenting projects of different typologies of the last decade (houses, residential complexes, office buildings and hotels) that helped shape a new image of the environment of the city, the suburbs and the Greek countryside, through architectural and constructional quality.
Alongside the texts and the rich photographic material of the edition, previously unpublished architectural drawings of these particular structures are presented, with the intention of a wider understanding of ISV’s principles and synthetic choices in projects that aimed to be places of desire, places of a timeless, hedonistic and unapologetically modern architecture.

Click here to watch the lectures

Gold Sponsor: Mapei Hellas

Silver Sponsor: Bagno y Bagno

Sponsors: Alumil, Halo Architectural Lighting, Tenora – Mitsubishi Electric Κλιματισμός, Rouchotas, Vitra

Supporters: AkzoNobel, Ariston Glass, Δημάρ, Ελευθερίου, Α.Ε. Europa, EXPA, Exalco, inmind, KRAFT Paints, OMNIA, Sifakis Glass, Square Design, Tsigas, ΤΖΑΚΙΑ and more – Panagiotis Kardaras

Cocktail Event Sponsor: Sub Zero – Wolf

The results of the projects selection competition for the 9th Biennale of Young Greek Architects, organised by the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, in the framework of activities for the development of contemporary Greek architecture with ek magazine as Strategic partner, have been announced.

The events of the Biennale of Young Greek Architects aim for the collection of a representative sample of young architects activities, the emergence of new authors and the exchange of views on the development of architectural thought and production of architectural work in Greece today.

The Biennale accepts entries from architects up to 45 years old of materialized projects and non-materialized proposals, provided they correspond to real design assignments (including projects that have excelled in competitions). Submitting student work is not allowed.

All entries will be exhibited and the selected projects will be presented in detail and will be published in a relevant catalogue issued by the Heliarch. At the same time, a workshop will be organized in the exhibition space, with invited speakers aimed at critical evaluation of all projects.

At this year’s Biennale, Heliarch decided to upgrade the role of the selection committee, inviting important theorists and architects, to reflect on the submitted material and evaluate the projects of the exhibition. In this way, visitors of the exhibition will be able to read both the judges’ choices and also their explanatory texts.

The five-member committee consists of Elias Constantopoulos, President of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture and architects, Konstantina Kalfa, Theoni Xanthi, Panos Tsakopoulos and Kostas Tsiambaos.

The exhibition will take place in Benaki Museum Piraeus St. Annexe, from 27 September – 25 November 2018, alongside the issuing of the catalogue. Inauguration: 26 September 2018, at 20:00.

See the 72 in total selected projects, along with the names of the architects, here.

Elval Colour, member of VIOHALCO Group, in cooperation with ek architectural magazine, organizes two conferences in Cyprus entitled: Present and Future of façade design in high-rise buildings – Trends, Developments and Fire Protection.

The first conference will take place on May 30th in Limassol, at Carob Mill.
The second conference will take place on May 31st in Nicosia, at Leventis Gallery.

The conferences will commence with salutations to the audience by a delegate of Elval Colour company. The purpose of the conferences is to present to the architectural audience of Cyprus, as well as to business representatives from a range of sectors, innovative technologies in façade design, architectural design for a sustainable future, along with international regulations and their influence on the fire safety of high-rise and high occupancy buildings.

Internationally acknowledged Greek and foreign speakers, will address and expand on the above topics, with different approaches.

More specifically, Natassa Lianou & Ermis Chalvatzis of LC Architects will discuss “Smart Architecture for a sustainable future”.

David Campbell, GIFireE, Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants, will analyse the “Critical Fire Safety Compliance Requirements of Cladding Systems”.

Mathieu Meur, Director, DP Architects Pte Ltd, will present “Innovative Cladding Designs”.

Finally, Angelos Zografos, Technical Sales Engineer of Elval Colour SA and Secretary of the Hellenic Institute of Fire Protection Engineering (ΕΛ.Ι.ΠΥ.ΚΑ), will assess the contribution of cladding materials to the efficient design of building envelopes in his presentation titled ”Quality lies in the details: The ACP case”.

Register here for the Conference in Limassol – 30 May 2018

Register here for the Conference in Nicosia – 31 May 2018

This year, companies and designers from 59 countries entered more than 6,300 innovations in the Red Dot Award: Product Design, a higher number than ever before. After inspiring and intensive discussions by the 39 jury members, they did not award a distinction until they had agreed on the good design quality of the product. As a result, a total of 69 entries – just 1.1% of all entries – received the top award in the competition, the Red Dot: Best of the Best. The “Red Dot”, which stands for good design quality, was awarded 1,684 times, while 45 objects won an Honourable Mention, which is given to a particularly well-executed aspect of design work. All of the designs have one thing in common: They represent the current status of product design and give insights into its future.

From furniture and household appliances to fashion and consumer electronics – the excellent quality of this year’s products has made them award-winning products. Red Dot juror and design strategist Michael Thomson agrees on the increasing variety in the categories. Simultaneously, the success of products is becoming much more complex as buyers link them to their emotional and aspirational ambitions more and more. Gisbert Brunner, a passionate expert on watches, emphasised the rise in quality of submissions, setting apart the watch “TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 Luxury Kit” from TAG Heuer, one of the 69 entries which won a Red Dot: Best of the Best this year. The product won over the jury with its modularity in particular, as parts of it, such as the case, the lugs, the strap and the clasp, can be interchanged, and the smartwatch module can be replaced with an automatic mechanical chronograph module.

Thomas Lockwood, jury member and influencer in the field of innovation, saw the improving quality as a sign that companies understand the market value of good design as a success factor. According to Martin Darbyshire, founder of the consultancy firm tangerine, every product has to combine high degrees of functionality with high aesthetic design quality; while its use becomes more intuitive, the technology recedes into the background, becoming more and more invisible. This trend is reflected in particular amongst the winning products in the Smart Home field, in the example of “Google Home” awarded with a Red Dot: Best of the Best. The smart speaker has integrated microphones and functions as a personal digital assistant to help with day-to-day tasks. Voice commands are used to play music, get a weather forecast, write a shopping list or use the Smart Home product, without any visible buttons or keys; instead it is controlled via an inconspicuous touchscreen. The use of fabric allows the technology to disappear into the background.

The award-winning products often feature innovative and sustainable materials. This was the principal reason why the “Kaffeeform Material” by Kaffeeform, which was submitted as a cup and is made from coffee grounds, prompted the jury to award it a Red Dot: Best of the Best. Because global coffee consumption is on the rise, and with it the resulting waste, more and more quantities of cold coffee grounds are readily available. Designer Julian Lechner used this wasted resource to create a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative material to petroleum-based raw materials. Properties that are characteristic of the material include the marbled, wood-like surface, the smell of coffee, the light weight and the long shelf life as well as the fact that it is dishwasher safe. Materials and surfaces expert Katrin de Louw stressed how ground-breaking products such as this carbon-neutral and ecological coffee cup, are steps in the right direction.

All of the laureates will be celebrated at the award ceremony in Essen’s opera house, the Aalto-Theater, on 9 July. The winners of the Red Dot: Best of the Best, which include Apple, Bulgari, Canyon Bicycles, Ferrari, Lenovo, LG, Philips, Porsche, Sony and Veryday, will accept their trophies on stage in front of around 1,200 international guests. At the subsequent Designers’ Night, guests will party in the midst of the award-winning products in the Red Dot Design Museum, as the after-show party is also the opening of the exhibition: For four weeks, the “Design on Stage – Winners Red Dot Award: Product Design 2018” special exhibition will showcase the award-winning innovations as part of the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary design.

The day of the Red Dot Gala coincides with the publication of the Red Dot Design Yearbook 2018/2019, which presents all of the year’s winning products, which can be found in the Online Exhibition, the Red Dot App and on Red Dot 21 from that date.