Mutating cities need investment
Innovation in Greek apartment buildings is not a simple matter. The construction of an apartment building must follow certain strict laws that have been established by the interaction of specific factors. Continuing – and not always justified – changes to the legal framework affect the market in an unorthodox way and leave their mark on the Greek city. Local construction technology is restricted to certain materials (concrete, aluminium, brickwork). The division of property and the lack of large plots limit the size of the Athenian apartment building and explain to some extent why there are no large-scale housing complexes. The Athenian apartment building, much maligned, has survived as a housing model. Now the issue is how to adapt it to a number of new factors – the new functional demands of those who live in them, new needs for expression by various population groups, the redetermination of the relationship between buildings and the city. Conditions are now being created for innovative approaches in collective housing. European architecture has already found new directions that can be adapted for Greece. At the moment, Greek society is just starting to realize its changing needs in the housing sector. Conditions are perhaps more favorable than ever for businesspeople who dare to invest in innovation.
