Piraeus port offers a unique landscape of large building volumes, port infrastructure
and slow moving or stationary ships surrounded by dense residential urban tissue.
The Museum contributes its own skyline to this scenery, and holds a key position in
relation to the water, the archaeological site of the Eëtionian Gate, the iconic large
Cultural Coast buildings and the modern city.
The constitution of an archaeological promenade that connects all and passes
through the public core of the museum is the main premise, the basic idea of the
design. The promenade crossing of the building is marked by considerable mass
subtractions from the pilotis level and the floor above. The double height open
spaces arising create a comfortable urban balcony in direct contact with the
residential fabric and in ideal relationship with the archaeological site and the view
of the harbor.
The main galleries of the museum are arrayed on the ground floor in the high
ceiling linear continuous space of the existing building. Daylight filters in mostly
through atria that host outdoor exhibits. They become a main shared reference for
both museum worlds, the permanent controlled exhibition and the informal open
stage of the urban balcony.
In contact with the museum, the archaeological promenade continues onto the
sloping garden. It intensifies the natural terrain and connects both to the urban
balcony level, and the square in front of the museum. It is a place where the green
surface and inclination imply informality, relaxation and loose contemplation of the
Cultural Coast, the Peiraiki peninsula and the Saronic Gulf view. The garden is an
urban chaise longue and a meeting field for visitors and residents.
Extroversion and openness of the archaeological promenade required the
conversion of the existing concrete structure to amplify the already massive central
columns and to interconnect and reinforce the upper and lower top floor beams,
thus making possible the removal of the outer columns of the urban balcony and
the suspension of the new metal structure of the penultimate floor.
As a result of this, the building displays alternating open and closed horizontal
zones. This zoning into compact and transparent bands dictates the choices of the
surface materials. Open areas are dominated by steel and transparent glass while
the closed areas have exposed concrete surface or lining with long horizontal
natural stone strips.

Design team:
Iro Bertaki
Christina Loukopoulou
Costis Paniyiris
Theodoris Toussas
Pavlos Bakayannis (3d visualisation)

Consultants:
Manos Kyriazis (structural engineer)
Dimitris Mantas (mechanical engineers)
Helli Pangalou (landscape design)