Opinions voiced online
The following discussion took place on the Internet shortly before the 2004 Olympics. Five people in favor of tall buildings were talking about prospects for building a skyscraper in Athens. We found this excerpt in Vangelis Vlahos’s entry to the Manifesta in San Sebastian two years ago when he presented his project «Buildings like texts are socially constructed.» De Snor: «I am always impressed by Athens’s zoning density. Yet I will never stop hoping that one day there will be skyscrapers in that great city. The Olympic Games will bring huge investments afterward; look what happened in Montreal and Munich in the 1970s…» gm2263: «I agree, first of all the investments in infrastructure in Athens and the works under development now are of an unprecedented magnitude and Athens needed them. You cannot build skyscrapers without proper infrastructure…» yoyoalan: «I think the Acropolis will always be the tallest building.» gm2263: «The Acropolis is 150 meters high, a good height for skyscrapers in Athens. Nevertheless, I doubt whether a skyscraper will ever be built near it. All Athens’s tall buildings are at least 10 kilometers away from it…» Krez: «Don’t worry, there is a great shortage of office building space in Athens. That won’t go unnoticed for long, believe me… Major investments are coming…» gm2263: «True, the construction of high-rises has to do with economy and lack of office space among other things, but at the same time, it’s a matter of the mentality of architects and acceptance from the public and the authorities.»
