Exhibition on the life and work of the architect

The Goethe-Institut Athen, in collaboration with the Archives of Modern Greek Architecture of the Benaki Museum and the Athens Conservatory ("Odeion"), presents the permanent exhibition "From Building to Community: Ioannis Despotopoulos and the Bauhaus".

Ioannis Despotopoulos (1903 - 1992) lived in Weimar for two years at the time of the Bauhaus. He was one of the first Greek architects to deal with the ideological, political and social dimensions of architecture. His experiences at the Bauhaus during the Weimar Republic were formative for his work. He understood the Bauhaus not as a "style", but as a way of thinking and creating, which he implemented in his design for the Athens Cultural Center in 1959 and in the building of the Athens Conservatory "Odeion". As part of the centenary of the Bauhaus in 2019, the exhibition – accompanied by additional archive material – was shown for the first time in the basement of the Athens Conservatory. In the course of the redesign of the "Odeion", it was adapted and permanently installed on the first floor.

The focus is on the history of this important Athenian building. The tour follows various creative phases and stations on the path of the architect's life in the context of European modernism of the 20th century.

The exhibition was curated by Loukas Bartatilas. Based on the work of Ioannis Despotopoulos, he researches the influence of the Bauhaus on modern architecture in Greece.

VISITING THE EXHIBITION:
The exhibition can be visited during the Odeion’s regular opening hours.
July Mon–Sat, 10:00-15:00
August Closed
September-December Mon–Sat, 10:00-22:00

You can find more detailed information here: https://www.athensconservatoire.gr/

THE EVENT FORMS PART OF THE “70 YEARS OF THE GOETHE-INSTITUT ATHEN” PROGRAMME