A Modern Greek Architect and Visionary: Takis Zenetos

Takis Zenetos (b Athens, 1926; d Athens, 28 June 1977) is one of the best Greek architects of the 20th century. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, in Paris (1946–54). His work is characterized by the exploration of technology following two basic principles: the first was that housing should be the most elaborate and luxurious product of society, in complete opposition to the trends toward low-cost, low-quality housing; the second was the concern to break up what he called the ‘cubic box’ of the modernist private house in order to integrate the interior with the environment.

He was also concerned with spatial flexibility and versatility and used extensively movable and removable parts.
One of his famous works is the Fix building (1957-59/1963) on Syggrou Avenue in Athens (with Margaritis Apostolidis), considered a landmark building by ICOMOS (International Council On Monuments and Arts). Partly demolished, the remaining building will house the Greek National Museum of Modern Art. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this building from since the Fix brewery was rebuilt by Zenetos, even to this day, when the effort to house the NMMA is causing a lot of heated discussion.

The modern facades of the Fix brewery, a result of the radical rebuilding of the old factory were acknowledged by foreign and Greek critics as one of the most important International Style buildings in Athens in the 1950s. The enormous size of this industrial building (ground floor plus six floors covering a whole city block on one of the main thoroughfares of Athens), made for a fertile and multifaceted cause of thought to Takis Zenetos. The main ideas of the conversion were to ensure the internal flexibility of the factory so that it would be able to accommodate different types of use in the future, and its intervention in the anarchic urban fabric of Athens in a modernizing spirit.

The dynamic volume of the factory imposed itself on the urban landscape. In the treatment of the facades, which was based on harmonious strong lines, the solid prevails and the horizontal dimension is emphasized. The plain, modern style of the Fix factory arose from the system of vertical and horizontal axes on the elevation walls, which sometimes contained openings for lighting and ventilation of the interiors. Below, you can see the extent of the demolition of the building:

The Greek department of ICOMOS has repeatedly asked for the restoration of the original building, to no avail. The demolished part will become a parking space, while the remaining part will be so altered that it will barely reference the Zenetos design. A shame really.

The following is from an installation by a modern Greek Architect, Andreas Aggelidakis, on the Fix building:

More for Takis Zenetos next week.