By what standards do you judge a skyscraper? Aesthetic? Functional? Ideological? The problem with the high-rise going up in the seaside Athens suburb of Elliniko is that it defies any framework of productive evaluation; its context isn’t doing it any favors.
Architecturally speaking, no matter how well designed a concrete tower is, how can it possibly fit into the Attica hodgepodge, notorious for its unkempt state and urban contradictions? How can it not stand out like a sore thumb in a city where every building clashes with the one beside it, as a rule?
As for its uses, how likely is it to have a positive impact on the majority of people who, having absolutely no connection to it, are expected to welcome and accept it?
Ethically, can a city take a pharaonic structure seriously when what it truly needs is buildings to be torn down and replaced by green spaces?
CITY LIFE CONSTRUCTION ARCHITECTURE
