Claudio Conenna & Eleni Amerikanou, Panos Exarchopoulos

The Hellenic Institute of Architecture held the second event of the 20th series of lectures by Greek architects, titled, “Lectures & Dialogues”, on Tuesday, January 30, at 19:00, at the Benaki museum on Pireos Street.

The Lectures of Greek Architects have historically been an iconic establishment of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture (HIA). Over the past twenty years, distinguished creators have been invited to present their work. The presentation of the diverse facets of architectural practice, alongside critical discussion, has been a consistent hallmark of this initiative. The simultaneous presentation of the work of two architectural firms, followed by a dialogue between them and with the audience, is intended to spark public conversation about architecture—its relationship with establishments, the processes of its production and critique, and its multiple expressions in both private and public spaces.

The overall coordination of the lectures on behalf of the Board of Directors of the HIA was undertaken by Anastasios Kotsiopoulos (Architect, Emeritus Professor at AUTH), Dionisis Sotovikis (Architect), and Sofia Tsiraki (Architect, Professor at NTUA).

In the second lecture of the series, the participants were:

CLAUDIO CONENNA: NOWHERE / NOW-HERE

The projects in this lecture, under the title NOWHERE / NOW-HERE, illustrate through four themes a design philosophy, a way of working, and the rationale I follow in the process of architectural composition.
“NOWHERE” means that these works exist nowhere because they are unbuilt, while “NOW-HERE” expresses that they come to light today, here.
The four themes: 1/ The Lines of Nature, 2/ The Forms of Time, 3/ The Roof-Scape,  4/ The Inner and Outer Explosion, reveal “A search between the lines”, as well as a personal perception of Architecture — one that emerges and aligns both with human everyday life and with the spiritual dimensions of art.
I perceive Architecture as a cultivated and at the same time humble act that constantly seeks the essential in order to contribute to the culture of each place.
Each time, the primary idea behind the solutions lies in the search for a simple yet dynamic compositional gesture that follows the guiding lines of the place. These are strokes or markings that engage in dialogue with the landscape—natural, cultural, and experiential. Memories, dreams, and external references are combined and interwoven, orienting the composition toward a dialogical response to the environment. These are traces along the labyrinthine path of composition, always originating from the environment—whether natural, urban, or cultural—in order to harmonize with the pulse of the place. These projects attempt, in their own language, to approach the highest grace of ARCHITECTURE: Emotion…!!!

ELENI AMERIKANOU – PANOS EXARCHOPOULOS: WORKS AND “PARA-WORKS”

By recording our initial architectural stimuli and influences, we will present selected projects of ours, focusing on: the clear compositional structure, the recourse to pure geometry, the respect for human scale and the environment, the emphasis on the ground-level zone, the “double” or “excavated” façade, the upper termination of the building, the subtle presence of the structural system, the stereometric variety, the morphological “episodes,” the use of color, and more. Through this selective “journey,” we hope to make evident our commitment to the  restrained/pragmatic realization of the architectural work and to Modernism, while our insistence on the use of traditional representational techniques contributes, in its own way, to our intentional restraint against excess. 
In addition, the reference to Panos Exarchopoulos’ “Imaginary Notebooks” reveals a desire for the continuous exploration of architectural ideas, particularly during times of professional scarcity.
Activities such as research on modern Greek architecture of the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s, on the relationship between architecture and art, as well as painting, photography, and others, complement the field of architectural application. These constitute the “Para-works” in the title – though they are not without weight or significance, as the very definition of the word suggests.
The academic teaching of architectural design, though not included in the above, is naturally in dialogue with both the Works and the “Para-works.”

More informations www.eia.gr

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Claudio Conenna, of Italian descent, was born in Argentina in 1959. He studied at the National University of La Plata in Argentina, where he received his Diploma in Architecture in 1984. In 1999, he obtained his Doctorate in Architecture from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is currently a Professor of Architectural Design and Theory at the School of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
More than 60 of his articles have been published in international journals and edited volumes—in Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, and Finland. He has also authored ten books. His articles and books focus on monographic subjects related to modern and contemporary architecture, as well as on modernist and contemporary architects from Latin America and Europe. In terms of architectural practice, he has completed over 80 projects in architectural and urban design at various scales, through private and public commissions and architectural competitions. Some of these have received awards and have been exhibited, mainly in international architectural exhibitions.

Eleni Amerikanou was born in 1960 in Lamia, Greece. She is a graduate of the School of Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA, 1985) and holds a PhD from NTUA (1997), with her doctoral dissertation titled: “Representation in Architecture. The character and function of representational tools in architectural design.” Since 1987, she has maintained an architectural practice jointly with Panos Exarchopoulos, focusing primarily on the design of private and public buildings, interior design projects, and participation in architectural competitions. She has received multiple awards, including one 1st Prize, four 2nd Prizes (among them, the 2nd Prize in the international architectural competition for the New Acropolis Museum), one 4th Prize, and one Honorable Mention. Her architectural work has been published in both Greek and international publications and exhibited in various exhibitions. Since 1999, she has been teaching Architectural Design at the Department of Architecture of the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) in Xanthi, where she currently serves as a Professor. She has also served as a visiting professor in the Interdepartmental Postgraduate Program of the NTUA School of Architecture. Her research interests include: the pedagogy of architectural design, representational tools in architecture, geometry and spatial theories, art and architecture, modern Greek architecture of the 1930s, 1960s, and 1970s.
She is the scientific lead on research programs at the Department of Architecture at DUTH. She has published articles in books and academic journals and has participated in numerous conferences and symposiums. She is a member of: the Technical Chamber of Greece (TCG), the Association of Greek Architects (SADAS-PEA), International and Greek DOCOMOMO, the Hellenic Section of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Hellenic Architectural Society, the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, the editorial board of the digital architectural journal Archetype.

Panos Exarchopoulos was born in 1961 in Athens, Greece, to artist parents who were painters and printmakers. He graduated in 1986 from the School of Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). Since 1987, he has run an architectural practice in Athens together with Eleni Amerikanou, focusing primarily on the design of private and public buildings, interior spaces, and participation in architectural competitions, in many of which he has received awards (three 2nd Prizes and one 4th Prize). His architectural work has been published in books and journals and has been featured in exhibitions. From 1999 to the present, he has taught Architectural Design at the Department of Architecture of the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) in Xanthi, where he currently holds the position of Assistant Professor. His main research interest lies in the study, documentation, and analysis of modern Greek architecture, especially from the interwar period and the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. A major outcome of this ongoing work is the creation of an extensive and systematized photographic archive, enriched with building documentation, bibliographic references, and more. His academic work has been published in books, specialized (print and digital) journals, and newspapers. He has also contributed presentations to conferences and scholarly events. In addition to his academic and architectural work, he is also involved in painting, photography, graphic design, book editing, and custom furniture and interior element design for personal use. He is a member of: TCG (Technical Chamber of Greece), SADAS-PEA (Association of Greek Architects), International and Greek DOCOMOMO, Hellenic Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, Hellenic Architectural Society, Editorial board of the online architectural journal Archetype.

Photographs:© HIA/Stelios Nikas