Dimitris Manikas

The Hellenic Institute of Architecture organized a new series of lectures by Greek architects titled “HIA Lectures 2005–2006”. The aim of this series was to broaden public awareness and understanding of the work of architects. To this end, prominent professionals were selected and invited to share their views on Greek architecture and present their own work.

Greek architecture today remains a subject of ongoing inquiry. Several issues continue to shape and, at times, hinder its development: the processes surrounding professional practice, the limited implementation of architectural competitions, the relationship between architecture and the broader economic realities of the country, the role and potential of construction technology, the gradual transformation of architects into executors of pre-determined choices made by construction companies, the legacy of the Olympic projects, architecture’s relationship with society, the problematic role of Greece’s artistic architectural and urban tradition, the relationship between contemporary architecture and the realities of Greek cities, the issue of architectural education, the connection between Greek and international architecture, the lack of a coherent strategy for promoting architecture both within Greece and abroad, and the role of architectural criticism. These are issues that often do not support design research itself nor the development of the overall quality of architectural work.
Architecture in Greece today still raises questions that remain unanswered—questions that have already been addressed not only in the West but also in many countries of the so-called “Third World.”

The Hellenic Institute of Architecture’s lecture series aimed to address these questions. The architects invited, many of whom belong to the younger generation, sought both to express theoretical positions on these matters and to articulate the principles that underpin their own personal design philosophy within the context of the built environment.

“Studies and Projects for Athens and Vienna”

DIMITRIS MANIKAS

He was born in 1938 on the island of Syros and studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology (1967). In 1975, he became a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece and the International Union of Architects (UIA). In 1977, he established his own practice in Vienna as a freelance architect. In 1988, he was appointed assistant professor in Vienna, and in 1996 he became a member of the Austrian Chamber of Architects. He has published extensively and given numerous lectures in Greece and abroad.

He is one of the well-known Greek architects who has lived and worked in Vienna since the 1960s. He has a rich portfolio of realized architectural and urban planning projects, presented through original architectural drawings and photographs. These include urban and architectural competition proposals for large-scale projects in Athens (Athens Cultural Centre, New Acropolis Museum, Administration Building of the Athens School of Fine Arts, New Syntagma Square), as well as a selection of built projects and studies in Vienna (Restoration of the “Urania” adult education building, Renovation of the Vienna City History Museum, Conversion and expansion of the “Sweizerspende” day-care center).