| In 1833 Athens presented a miserable picture. The fights of the War of Independence against Turkey (1821-1827) had left a desolated town. Athens, with the meager population of 4,000, was proclaimed the capital of newly-independent Greece. Two young architects, Stamatios Kleanthes and Eduard Schaubert, students of Karl Friedrich Schinkel at the Berlin Bauakademie, were entrusted with the design of New Athens. This study examines the creation and gradual implementation of the plan for New Athens during the reign of King Otto (1833-1862).; The Rebirth of Athens is divided into three parts: (1) History, (2) Planning, and (3) Architecture. The first part analyzes the political conditions that led to the creation of modern Greece, and the decision to make Athens the capital of the new nation. It also creates an archaeological portrait of Ottoman Athens, its architecture, its economy, and its society. The second part examines the extensive city planning activities that took place in early-19th-century Greece, the proposed plans for new towns and their gradual implementation. It also reviews the laypersons' opinions regarding the rebuilding of Athens, as it was expressed in the press and the government documents. The third part focuses on the new architecture that adorned Athens and its relationship to planning. It also analyzes the historical events and debates that established the need and significance of the major institutions: palace, academy, cathedral, museum, etc. Four entities controlled the building of modern Athens: the government, the patrons, the architects, and the public. The building history of individual structures reflects the power of each of the above entities. A closer study of the political rhetoric associated with each public structure also reveals the specific meaning that common architectural forms acquired in different settings and how a country "invented" its national architecture, out of a common stylistic lot. |
