Media and the Global City: Marshall McLuhan & Constantinos Doxiadis

Fifty years after the death of Constantinos A. Doxiadis, the Hellenic Institute of Architecture, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum, honors the pioneering Greek architect and urban planner of the 20th century and presents the exhibition “Media and the Global City: Marshall McLuhan and Constantinos Doxiadis.” The exhibition opens on Monday, December 1, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. at the Benaki Museum / 138 Piraeus Street and will run until January 18, 2026. The exhibition focuses on the collaboration between Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) and Constantinos A. Doxiadis (1913-1975) through archival documents, some of which are being revealed for the first time (correspondence, articles, minutes of scientific meetings, drawings, photographs, film excerpts, etc.). The exhibition is curated by NTUA associate professor Kostas Tsiambaos.

The collaboration between Constantinos Doxiadis, known for his innovative theories and studies in the field of human settlement design, and Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, who contributed decisively to the formation of media and communication theory, developed mainly through the Delos Symposia (1963-1972) and the international interdisciplinary debate on the state of human settlements – an initiative of Doxiadis. However, their collaboration did not end there. A central point of their common interest was the role of communication on a global scale, particularly in light of the possibilities offered by new electronic media. Telecommunications networks emerged at that time as a fundamental element for the future of human settlements, especially large cities—a prediction that has been confirmed to such an extent today that it is reminiscent of the science fiction scenarios of the 1960s and 1970s.

In an era of rapid technological advances in communications and networks, as well as large population concentrations in cities, the two interlocutors exchange views on the design of the global city and on the human being of the future as a whole, together with its digital extensions. Although at that time the telecommunications map of Greece was still under development, the aim was for the conclusions of their joint research to become a planning tool for architects, urban planners, and other technocrats, so that the proper preparation of telecommunications development within the framework of broader spatial planning would gradually place Athens (as well as other major cities in the country) into the family of global cities of the future. In this context, the exhibition presents the original preliminary studies by Doxiadis Associates from the early 1960s for telecommunications towers, which already foresaw the use of television at that time, as well as archival material from the Symposium on Greek Television, organized in 1966 by the Athens Technological Institute (ATI).

The exhibition is held under the auspices and with the generous financial support of the Ministry of Culture and is also supported by the Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archive and the Constantinos and Emma Doxiadis Foundation, the Marshall McLuhan Estate, The McLuhan Institute, and the C.A. Doxiadis Library of the NTUA.

Curation: Kostas Tsiambaos
Coordination: Theodora Alexandri
Scientific Advisor: Maria Pergandi
Exhibition design: Thodoris Chalvatzoglou
Graphic Design: Thodoris Chalvatzoglou
Texts Editing / Translations: Kostas Tsiambaos

Benaki Museum, 138 Pireos & Andronikou
Thursday & Sunday: 10:00 – 18:00 / Friday & Saturday: 10:00 – 22:00
#eia #heliarch #benakimuseum #newexhibition #Doxiadis #McLuhan #media #globalcity

Εxhibition photos 1-5: © Leonidas Kourgiantakis

Exhibition opening photos 6-10: © Stelios Nikas

Organized by: Hellenic Institute of Architecture, Benaki Museum

With the financial support and under the auspices of: Ministry of Culture

Supported by:

Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archive / Constantinos and Emma Doxiadis Foundation

Constantinos. A. Doxiadis Library, NTUA

Estate of Marshall McLuhan

The McLuhan Institute

Supporters of the Benaki Museum: Ministry of Culture

Strategic Partner: DEH

Exhibition fund permanent sponsor: Eurobank

Official sommunication sponsor: Lifo