Architect
country:Greece
website: www.meletitiki.gr
Bio
Born in India in 1939, he spent his early childhood in India and England before moving permanently to Greece. As a child he wanted to be a painter, and it was his painting teacher who first suggested the idea of his becoming an architect. Architecture was then for him something abstract and difficult to comprehend, but once the decision was taken, he never regretted it. His interest in technology and the first oil crisis made him turn towards the use of solar and alternative energy sources, which have become an integral part of his architectural design.
Today, Alexandros Tombazis divides his time between his office, which employs about 60 people, and travelling. A lecture at a congress or to University students gives him the opportunity to express his thoughts, but also becomes the starting block for one more trip, which combines his basic interests – architecture, painting, photography – and through these the exploration of yet another part of the world. Alexandros Tombazis has been awarded prizes in more than 110 national, international or invited competitions. Apart from those in Greece, projects have been built in Cyprus, Portugal, the Netherlands, Romania, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In 1991 he was elected honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects, while in 2006 he was awarded an honorary PhD by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Photo credits: www.meletitiki.gr ©Alexandros Tombazis
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on Architecture and Theory
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My point of view:
on Architecture and Travel
Interview Date: 17-09-2010
Can you please provide your personal opinion at the following issues?
- The importance of Architectural Tourism
- The importance of travels for the Architect (and the student of Architecture)
- The role of Architecture as a destination and the added value that it creates in a city
A.T: To learn one has to compare. To learn about architecture one has to experience space. It is as simple as that. There is no other way in architecture. There is no comparison to experiencing any other form of the arts. Even sculpture, which is the closest relative to architecture, needs to be experienced in three dimensions. You can listen to recorded music, watch a cinema movie, you can see the reproduction of a painting etc., but architecture as seen on film or in photographs is just not the same as the actual thing itself.
Winston Churchill has beautifully said: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”. Here I dare add: cities too. So in order to appreciate a city it is necessary to experience its exterior spaces and the spaces that are formed by buildings. This is in sequence what creates urban texture and human context, culture and society.
It is for this reason that I believe that architectural tourism is of paramount importance, both for the visitor, but for the visited too, as it puts the place on the map, it gives it importance and meaning.
Can you suggest the ten most important modern architecture buildings to be visited worldwide?
A.T: I am sorry that I cannot offer a list of the ten most important buildings to visit, the reason being that, most likely, they would be the most obvious listed by everybody and ten are in no way enough. The selection depends on the point of view and, if this were not the case, it would mean searching for unusual suggestions just to make an impression.
I can, however, just in order to be constructive and not negative, suggest ten buildings of our own that people may not even have heard of. And these are:
1. The Church of the Most Holy Trinity at the pilgrimage place of Fatima, Portugal. The Sanctuary of Fatima is worth visiting on one of the festive occasions, when its vast plaza can be filled with 200-500 thousand pilgrims. The prevailing spirit of faith is inspiring even for non-believers. On the other hand one can find oneself all alone in this vast enclave and experience moments of special beauty and serenity. The new Church of the Most Holy Trinity was built in order to provide shelter for prayer and other activities for the approx. 9.000 pilgrims who come to Fatima for mass on Sundays.
2. Bin Madiya Mosque, Dubai, U.A.E.
3. General Cement Company Headquarters (former AGET-Heracles, nowadays Lafarge), Lykovryssi - Athens, Greece.
4. “Difros” highrise residential complex, Agia Varvara, Psychico/Halandri - Athens, Greece.
5. Alpha Bank office building and bank branch, Athinon Avenue, Elaionas, Athens, Greece.
6. Office building complex and architects’ offices, Polydroso, Athens, Greece.
7. Athens College, Bodosakeio Elementary School, Kantza, Athens, Greece (in collaboration with Perkins and Will Chicago).
8. Schools of Economics, Public Administration and Classical Studies, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus (in collaboration with A. Gabrielides architects, Nicosia).
9. Oranje - Nassaukazerne apartment towers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(six foreign architects from different countries – Koji Yagi-Japan; Cuno Brullmann-France; Patrick Pinnell-USA; Tage Lyneborg-Denmark; Jeremy Bailey-U.K.; A. Tombazis-Greece – were invited to each design an apartment tower in central Amsterdam. General coordination: Atelier PRO (Hans van Beek)-The Hague. Interesting from the point of view of an open-minded exceptional multi-national collaboration).
10. Museum of Delphi, Delphi, Greece.
I would also suggest that the following cities are absolutely worth visiting in the context of contemporary architecture:
Barcelona, Brasilia, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Canberra, Columbus (Indiana).
** Find more about the work of Alexandros Tombazis in ArchiTravel:
http://www.architravel.com/architravel/architects/81
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