This is one of the largest plans of this kind in the history of the country, even without taking into account the current difficult financial and economic situation in Greece: its budget is 566 million euros. The charitable foundation plans to start construction this year and complete it in 2015, then transferring the complex surrounded by the park to the state.
The complex with a total area of 85 thousand m2 will be located on the embankment of Kallithea, a suburb of Greater Athens. It will include two buildings - the Greek National Opera with two halls for 1400 and 400 spectators and the National Library with a collection of 2 million volumes. They will be interconnected by a transparent volume of the "foyer", a place of communication for visitors to these cultural institutions.
Around 17 hectares of Stavros Niarchos Park will stretch: it will occupy 85% of the site and will become one of the largest green areas in Athens. The park will double the area of greenery per inhabitant of Kallithea. The authorities of this suburb decided to support the initiative of the foundation and create a nearby urban sports and recreation park, the design of which in the interests of uniformity was also entrusted to Renzo Piano.
The park, in the form of a gentle slope, will rise almost to the very top of the future building, forming its green roof. In addition, a canal for filtering irrigation water is planned in the ensemble, and photovoltaic cells will occupy an area of 1 hectare and will be able to provide the cultural center with all the necessary electricity. As a result, CO2 emissions can be reduced by 2,750 tonnes per year (compared to a typical facility of this size), and the project claims to be LEED platinum.
N. F.
