Towering over the Greek capital, the Acropolis has for years represented the glory of Ancient Greece, and as such an important emblem of Western civilisation. The years, however, have been harsh on the iconic site: pillaged, burned, even blown up, and most recently threatened by the ravages of pollution, the Acropolis has suffered centuries of abuse and neglect. The new Acropolis Museum seeks to redress that.
From Antiquity to 21st Century Design
The project of building an innovative new museum to house treasures from the Acropolis got underway in 2001, when Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, Dean of the School of Architecture at New York’s prestigious Columbia University, was selected to work in conjunction with Greek architect Michalis Photiadis.
A notable — and sometimes controversial — proponent of progressive, forward-looking architecture, Tschumi faced unique challenges in designing the Acropolis Museum.
“It’s 300 yards from the Parthenon. So for an architect to design something next to the most influential building in Western civilisation is quite a challenge,” Tschumi told Lyra Kilston in an interview for Modern Painters’ Summer 2009 issue. “The second thing is that 70 percent of the site is covered with precious archaeological ruins that must be preserved.”
Yet Tschumi was careful not to allow the import of the site to dilute or distort the modernity of his design. “I am not interested in emulating the Parthenon. I am seeking to achieve perfection in my buildings, so that they fit the architecture of the 21st century,” he is quoted as saying by Maria Tzortzaki in “Miracles Still Happen,” Athens 4U Spring 2009.
Acropolis Museum Galleries
The museum contains four floors, rising up on massive reinforced concrete pillars from an ongoing archaeological excavation project in the shadow of the Acropolis. The subterranean excavations, revealing parts of the ancient city of Athens, are visible at the entrance to the museum and through glass floor panels on the ground floor level. The ground floor gallery fittingly exhibits finds from the slopes of the Acropolis as it slopes gently up toward the first floor, mimicking the ascent up the Acropolis itself.
The first floor houses the Archaic Gallery, with dozens of kouroi and kore (figurative sculpture typical of the Archaic period, spanning the seventh to fifth centuries BC). Other exhibits on this floor include the Propylaia (the entrance gate to the Acropolis); the Temple of Nike Athena; and the Erechtheion, with its famous Caryatid figures; all from the fifth century BC.
Parthenon Restoration
The top floor is the Parthenon gallery. Aligned exactly with the actual Parthenon, which is visible through huge windows throughout the museum, the Parthenon gallery serves to recreate the unparalleled experience of seeing the majestic temple whole. Tschumi and the Acropolis Restoration Service addressed the issue of missing sculpture by filling in the voids in the marble frieze and pediments with plaster reproductions.
The most famous, and most glaring, voids are those caused by the absence of the Elgin Marbles, the iconic silhouettes controversially owned by the British Museum, whose return the Greek government has sought for years.
The effect of the Acropolis Museum’s recreation is less one of replacement than suggestion: an incomplete but descriptive glimpse of what was, and more pointedly, what might yet be.
References:
- The New Acropolis Museum
- Hurwit, Jeffrey M. The Athenian Acropolis: History, Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic Era to the Present, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999
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