Contemporary Athens is characterized by a building type that transformed the Greek capital into
a modern metropolis within a few decades in the 20th century: the polykatoikia a small-scale
urban apartment block. For almost forty years the unchallenged residential ideal for all social
classes the polykatoikia by the end of the century had become synonymous with the rushed mass
production of the postwar period and inhospitable living conditions in the inner city. The
question now is: what potential does this omnipresent building type have? And how can it be
developed further? This book sets out to trace the architectural origins of this typology. For
the first time it provides a comprehensive examination of the architectural concepts developed
by Greek architects for the polykatoikia. 76 innovative apartment buildings dating from 1930 to
1975 are presented with up-to-date photographs redrawn floor plans and brief explanatory
texts. The selection reveals an astonishing range of concepts including designs by Dimitris
Pikionis Aris Konstantinidis Constantine Doxiadis and George Candilis. In chronological
order the publication depicts the emergence of this architectural type from the 1930s
polykatoikias of the Modern Movement and the early postwar experiments to the iconic
polykatoikias of the 1960s. Additional texts explore the evolution of the key architectural
features of the polykatoikias and reflect on architects' ongoing struggles over this housing
model.
