The Frank Lloyd Wright Newsblog

The New Acropolis Museum was opened to journalists recently, and the architecture critics for the NY Times and Time made the trip to Athens. The old Acropolis Study Center was one of my favorite small museums in Athens, and it is sad to see it bigafied, but the new museum is jaw-droppngly awesome. (Take a look at this slide show from the NY Times)

The museum was designed by Bernard Tschumi — and it may have been the most challenging building to design since St. Peter’s Basilica. if you haven’t been to Athens, you can’t imagine the visual authority of the south side of the Acropolis and the view of the Parthenon from that area. Not to mention that someday the building may be the home for the reunited Parthenon Marbles.

From the New York Times

But the end result is a remarkably taut and subtle building. When I first glimpsed it on the approach from Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, a pedestrian avenue that leads from the Plaka cafe district, it seemed to fade into the dense grid of the city. Its facade, heavy bands of glass atop a concrete base punctured by narrow windows, seemed calm and unobtrusive.

Yet as I drew closer, the forms grew more precarious. To preserve the ruins of an ancient village that was discovered at the site during construction, the entire building has been raised on huge columns. A wildly overscale concrete canopy juts over the main entry plaza. Just above, the museum’s top floor seems to shift slightly, its corners cantilevering over the edge of the story below as if it is sliding off the top of the building.

This instability sets in motion a carefully paced narrative, guiding you through centuries of Greek history and allowing you to see the Parthenon with fresh eyes. An elliptical cutout in the plaza floor offers a view of the archaeological ruins below.

Great, now I need to visit Chicago and Athens. I really need a job.