Work on the project began at a relatively favorable pre-crisis time for Greece. The initiator of the construction of the parking lot, which was empty after the Olympics, almost on the very seashore, was the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, which allocated a lot of money for the implementation and has now donated a cultural center to the city.
Renzo Piano noticed the lack of mandatory visual contact with the sea in the Kallithea area and tried to rectify the situation. Part of the huge park (it covers an area of 175,000 m2 and is one of the largest in the capital) has been transformed into an artificial slope with an area of 17,000 m2, as if absorbing the building. The cultural center itself unites the National Library and two halls (for 1400 seats at the main stage and 450 seats at the experimental theater) of the National Opera around the public space. Paying the necessary tribute to history, it was called "agora".
At the very top of the eight-story, 35-meter-high building, an all-glass reading room has been created, providing panoramic views of the sea, the city, and the Athenian Acropolis, located not so far away, practically on the same axis. The glory of the latter, obviously, does not give Piano no rest. The transparent volume is covered with a thin (only 2 cm) curved like an airplane wing canopy made of reinforced concrete reinforced with fine steel mesh. Its special design will even withstand an earthquake. The entire surface of this floating square roof is covered with 5698 solar panels. They are capable of producing about 2.2 GWh of electricity per year, which fully covers the daily needs of the complex.
Compliance with the principles of sustainable construction is generally one of the most important features of the building, which is the first in Greece to claim the Leed Platinum environmental certificate. The cultural center has a full range of already quite familiar solutions: ventilated facades, economical plumbing, the use of "gray" water, utilization of construction waste, a heat recovery system, flood protection, the maximum level of natural light, etc. Even a giant 400-meter artificial reservoir, located along the steep wall of the slope, not only sets an important axis for the park and forms the main walking route towards the sea, but is part of the ecosystem of the building and the park that is being formed.
It would seem that Renzo Piano thought over and provided for absolutely everything, creating an almost ideal object of modern architecture: environmental friendliness, sophisticated technologies, at the same time - attention to the needs of the city, fit into the historical context, etc. In practice, it is not at all clear whether the current Greek authorities will have enough funds and forces to pay for the numerous personnel and maintain this, apparently, too "smart" building.
