With a crippled state apparatus and a national debt standing at almost 180% of GDP, one might be forgiven for thinking that a £500m new opera house might not be uppermost on the Greek government’s mind
2016 is set to be the year that several long-delayed projects finally complete, and others will hopefully get off the ground. Building’s look at some of the highlights to come in the year ahead looks at the Greek National Opera House.
Athens, Greece
With a crippled state apparatus and a national debt standing at almost 180% of GDP, one might be forgiven for thinking that a £500m new opera house might not be uppermost on the Greek government’s mind. Well luckily it didn’t have to account for the cost, because the new venue is being generously donated to the Greek state by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the private philanthropic body established in honour of the billionaire Greek shipping magnate of the same name. The opera house will form one half of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, the other half being occupied by the new National Library of Greece. The entire complex has been designed by Renzo Piano with the two combined institutions conceived as a giant dislodged fragment of the earth’s crust crowned by a cloud-like and technologically innovative ferrocement roof canopy covering a stupendous 10,000m². The development forms one of Europe’s largest ever privately funded art complexes and might provide a compelling lesson in the expediency of private investment for the beleaguered Greek economy.
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