ELEMENTS OF URBAN FORM

ATHENS, GREEK PERIOD

 ATHENS
• IT IS THE CAPITAL AND LARGEST CITY OF GREECE.

• ATHENS DOMINATES THE ATTICA REGION & IS ONE OF THE

WORLD’S OLDEST CITIES, WITH IT’S RECORDED HISTORY SPANNING

OVER 3,400 YEARS.

• ATHENS IS A LARGE COSMOPOLITAN METROPOLIS & CENTRAL TO

ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL, MARITIME, POLITICAL & CULTURAL LIFE IN

GREECE.

• ATHENS INCORPORATES ARCHITECTURAL STYLES RANGING FROM

GRECO-ROMAN & NEOCLASSICAL TO MODERN TIMES.

• ATHENS SPRAWLS ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAIN OF ATTICA THAT IS

OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE ATHENS OR ATTICA BASIN AND IS

DIVIDED IN SEVEN MAJOR DISTRICTS :- CENTRAL ATHENS; NORTH

ATHENS; SOUTH ATHENS; WEST ATHENS; PIRAEUS; EAST ATTICA &

WEST ATTICA
CITY DEVELOPMENT

A PLAN OF ATHENS,

DESIGNED BY THE FRENCH

CONSUL LOUIS FRANCOIS

SEBASTIEN FAUVEL, A

LITTLE BEFORE 1800.

A PLAN OF ATHENS

UNDER THE TURKISH

OCCUPATION, DESIGNED

BY COUBAULT, AFTER

1800.
 LAYERED
DEVELOPMENT OF
CITY
PRESENT DAY PLAN

CLASSICAL ATHENS
(494 BC- 478 BC)

ARCHAIC ATHENS
(800 BC/750 BC – 494 BC)

NEOLITHIC ERA
(6000 BC – 1600 BC)
NEOLITHIC ERA - 6000BC-1600BC

The later Bronze age

finds the residents of
A PLAN OF ATHENS,
then modern Athens a
DESIGNED BY THE lot more influenced by
FRENCH CONSUL LOUIS
the Neolithic way of
living. Originally, they
FRANCOIS SEBASTIEN remain within the
FAUVEL, A LITTLE BEFORE bounds of their own
area, but soon
1800. afterwards, they start
to communicate with
Gradually the Peloponnese,
they Sterea (Στερεά)
descended , and the Cyclades (Κυκλάδες). No houses and
down the permanent constructions have survived, but the sparse
slope traces of pottery found show that they continue to
towards the reside in their old places; while others now definitely live
northern and on top of the rock close to the Erectheion (Ερεχθείο),
southern sides where clear traces of them have been found. Inside
the Ancient Marketplace (Αγορά) a pathway leading
to Plato’s Academy (Ακαδημία Πλάτωνος) in the West
begins to be formed; this pathway will later become a
road.
THE EARLY BRONZE AGE (3200–2000 BC)

DARK AGES (1.150 BC/1.100 BC – 900 BC

Invasion of Peloponnesse which came as a

blow and the Athenians took time to
stand up again. The attack resulted in the
reduction of population

GEOMETRIC PERIOD (900 BC –

800/750 BC)
Athens suffered a heavy blow, perhaps on
account of a drought followed by famine
and epidemic diseases
 ARCHAIC ATHENS CLASSICAL ATHENS(494
(800 BC/750 BC -494 BC) BC -478 BC)

For the first time an underground aqueduct was constructed to City rebuilt according to plan devised by Hippodamus.
bring water from mount Hymettus.
No concrete town planning appears to have existed; the streets of Themistocles wall was built around the city.
the city were in their majority narrow and irregular in shape. Athens soon prospered again
HELLENISTIC ATHENS
(339 BC - 168 BC)

• Demand for regularity

• Acropolis was the initial core. Some main streets

started at its entrance, as well as from the road
immediately surrounding it, proceeded radially
throughout the city and came to an end at the
city wall gates. In doing so, they left some free
areas, the most important of which was Agora.
ROMAN ATHENS
(183 BC-BC 31)
ACROPOLIS

NEW ROMAN CLOSED AGORA

HOUSES AND BUILDINGS HERE
WERE DEMOLISHED.

ATHENIAN AGORA-
NEW BUILDINGS
BUILT HERE
BYZANTINE ATHENS ( FROM 565 TO 1205 A.D.)

The Athenian empire was limited to the

post roman fortification with
development of smaller towns around it.
These merged later to form Athens as we
see today.
DENSITY
The compact and suburban
regions in Athens, defined by
a density threshold of 200
persons/ha in year 2008.
 HOUSING/BUILDING TYPE

The house of Dekozis- The house of the Austrian The house of The Melas Building, on The Schliemann Building

Vouros, built in 1833-1834, Ambassador Prokesch Provelengios (built ca the corner of Aiolou St. (“Iliou Melathron”), built

in the district of von Osten, on Feidiou St., 1835), on the corner of and Dimarxeiou Square, between 1878-1880,

Klafthmonos Square. built ca 1835 Keramikou and Myllerou built in 1874, based on a based on a plan of Ernst

St. plan of Ernst Ziller. Ziller.

 URBAN LAYOUT

The road network was elaborated in part as

spokes with hubs at circular plazas, and in part

as horizontals and verticals in the direction of

the main axes, always with absolute regularity.

Its main characteristics were a reduction in

the total size of the city; a partial reduction The Klenze Plan for the City of the Athens (1834), a
revised version of the Kleanthis-Schaubert plan.
in the excavation area, with a boundary at

Adrianou St.; a reduction in the width of the

roads and the spatial surface of the plazas,

as well as the elimination of avenues within

the city and a reduction of the parceling

out of the Ancient City.

A few changes of layout in the area of the

A simplified geometric version of the Kleanthis- Royal Palace were made also in 1837, with The final version of the Plan for the City of the
Schaubert plan in 19th century Athens, after von Gaertner’s intervention and the
the so-called Hoch plan.
definite reposition of the Royal Palace.
 • Street layout - Orthogonal street network that
intersects with 45 degree diagonal
boulevards, with public open spaces
(plazas and gardens) placed at the
point of intersection

• Civic spaces - Omonoia Square

• Main street - Athinas Street

• Heritage - The Acropolis symbolizes the status of

Athens as genius loci and the cradle of
Western civilization

• Innovativeness urban design - The archaeological park

was the first of its kind

Urban Layout in 1991

TRANSPORT

Two examples of irregular road networks in

Athens
LAND USE
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