Pericles A. Sakellarios
Encyclopedia
Perikles A. Sakellarios (September 1905 – March 1985), was one of the leading figures in Greek architecture between 1936 and 1985.
– Greece
on 13 September 1905, first son of Aristidis Sakellarios and Thalia Mavrogianni.
Attended primary and secondary schools in Corfu and Thessaloniki
. Completed his secondary education at the Technical Department of the Calvin College
in Geneva (1920-1921). During this period, he won two of the prestigious “Monteseigny Foundation” scholarships. He studied Architecture at the Technical University in Graz (1924-1930) under Karl Hoffman and Friedrich Zotter, followed by a brief spell at the Bauhaus
under Walter Gropius
.
Married to: Antigoni Petrocheilou (1932- 1935), Ina Pappou (1937-1945), Valentina Theotoki (1947-1957), Koula Kampani (1968-1972). One daughter: Elisabeth Sakellariou-Herzog. Pericles Sakellarios died on March 5, 1985 in Athens
. Today his buildings have successfully stood the test of time and are recognised as defining contribution to Post-War Greek Architecture.
At the beginning of his career, he worked for a short spell as an assistant to Andreas Kriezis (1887-1962). His projects include the remodeling the old Royal Palace to accommodate the Greek Parliament and Senate.
In 1931 he moved to Volos
where he worked for the Technical Service of the Township of Pegases until 1935.
In 1936 he returned to Athens where he was employed by the newly formed technical service of the Ministry of Public Health and Welfare.
The period of 1936 to 1941 was the most creative periods in his life and career. During this time, in addition to numerous private commissions, he was appointed as the official architect of King George II of Greece. He remodeled the Royal palace of Tatoi, Royal palace of Psychiko and Mon Repos
in Corfu.
1941-1945
During the German-Italian Occupation he served in the Greek armed forces. In the following Greek Civil War
he was held hostage by ELAS
, the military arm of the National People's Liberation Army from which he was liberated by the Allied forces.
1947-1985
Still working as a civil servant he was chosen as the official representative of his Ministry to visit Britain and the United States where he was informed of developments in hospital architecture.
In 1947 he abandoned his career as a civil servant and set up his practice as a free-lance architect.
From 1954 to 1960 he formed a collaboration with Manolis Vourekas (1905-1992) and Prokopis Vassiliadis (1912-1977). Projects resulting from this collaboration include the avant-garde Astir Beach and resort facilities in Glyfada (1955-58), the Public beach in Vouliagmeni
and the Argo and Oceanis restaurants (1959-61).
In 1959 he was chosen by Walter Gropius
as an associate of the architectural firm TAC (The Architect’s Collaborative) for the construction of the new U.S Embassy in Athens
.
In 1966 he set up his first joint practice under the name “ P.A.Sakellarios and Associates”. His partners were his daughter Elisabeth Sakellariou-Senkowsky, her husband Hermann Senkowsky and his future wife Koula Kampani.
Sakellarios was a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece
, the Architect’s Association, the Hellenic Architectural Society. He served as a board member of the International Union of Architect’s (UIA
). He acted as technical advisor to the Greek National Organization and to the Psychiko Community.
In 1966 he was designated Commander of the Royal Order of the Phoenix, an honor awarded to him for his contribution to the country’s reconstruction.
In 1982, the Technical University of Graz awarded him an honorary diploma for his exceptional half-century of professional practice.
Influence on Modern Greek Architecture
Pericles Sakellarios was one of the leading figures in Greek architecture between 1936 and 1962. He constitutes a special case in his generation owing to his fifty-year career, a creative career made possible by the calm relations he maintained with his people, his country and his age.
The products of Sakellarios’ rare abilities and mild modernity included some exemplary buildings and complexes-mainly houses that attracted the interest of the international architectural press then, but have also stood the test of time.
He was able to slide over the boundaries of culture and style and this makes his work interesting. He moved easily between designing homes for the leisured into designing the new public architecture of leisure tourism: open-air cinemas, theaters, motels and beach resorts
1936 Vassilis Goumas house, Athens
1937-1939 Lambros Eftaxias residence, Athens
1947-1948 Dallis Restaurant, Athens
1949-1950 Greek Special Forces Chapel, Kavouri, Athens
1954-1958 Corfu Pallas Hotel, Corfu
1955-1958 Astir Beach and Resort Facilities (in collaboration)
1959-1961 Embassy of the United States in Athens
, Athens
, Greece
(project by TAC)
1961 Corfu Harbour, Passenger Terminal
1962-1974 Corfu Municipal Theater
1962-1963 Architect’s own summer house in Corfu
1970 The Greek Pavilion in Osaka
World’s Fair
1981-1982 Theodoros Angelopoulos, private house, Athens
Helen Fessa-Emmanouil, Essays on Neohellenic Architecture, (ISBN 960-91597-0-2) (Privately published by E.F.)
Savas Condaratos & Wilfried Wang, 20th - Century Architecture Greece, Prestel Verlag (ISBN 3-7913 -2152 -8)
Elisabeth Sakellariou & Helen Fessa-Emmanouil, An Architect's Vision, POTAMOS Publishers (ISBN 960-6691-00-4)
Biography
Born in CorfuCorfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
– Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
on 13 September 1905, first son of Aristidis Sakellarios and Thalia Mavrogianni.
Attended primary and secondary schools in Corfu and Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. Completed his secondary education at the Technical Department of the Calvin College
Calvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
in Geneva (1920-1921). During this period, he won two of the prestigious “Monteseigny Foundation” scholarships. He studied Architecture at the Technical University in Graz (1924-1930) under Karl Hoffman and Friedrich Zotter, followed by a brief spell at the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
under Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
.
Married to: Antigoni Petrocheilou (1932- 1935), Ina Pappou (1937-1945), Valentina Theotoki (1947-1957), Koula Kampani (1968-1972). One daughter: Elisabeth Sakellariou-Herzog. Pericles Sakellarios died on March 5, 1985 in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. Today his buildings have successfully stood the test of time and are recognised as defining contribution to Post-War Greek Architecture.
Career
1931At the beginning of his career, he worked for a short spell as an assistant to Andreas Kriezis (1887-1962). His projects include the remodeling the old Royal Palace to accommodate the Greek Parliament and Senate.
In 1931 he moved to Volos
Volos
Volos is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about 326 km north of Athens and 215 km south of Thessaloniki...
where he worked for the Technical Service of the Township of Pegases until 1935.
In 1936 he returned to Athens where he was employed by the newly formed technical service of the Ministry of Public Health and Welfare.
The period of 1936 to 1941 was the most creative periods in his life and career. During this time, in addition to numerous private commissions, he was appointed as the official architect of King George II of Greece. He remodeled the Royal palace of Tatoi, Royal palace of Psychiko and Mon Repos
Mon Repos
Mon Repos may refer to:*Monrepos, a Rococo water pavilion in Ludwigsburg, Germany.*Mon Repos, a landscape garden in Vyborg, Russia.*Mon Repos Conservation Park, a turtle rookery near Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia....
in Corfu.
1941-1945
During the German-Italian Occupation he served in the Greek armed forces. In the following Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
he was held hostage by ELAS
ELAS
ELAS may refer to:*The Greek People's Liberation Army, World War II Greek Resistance group*The Equitable Life Assurance Society, a life insurance company in the United Kingdom...
, the military arm of the National People's Liberation Army from which he was liberated by the Allied forces.
1947-1985
Still working as a civil servant he was chosen as the official representative of his Ministry to visit Britain and the United States where he was informed of developments in hospital architecture.
In 1947 he abandoned his career as a civil servant and set up his practice as a free-lance architect.
From 1954 to 1960 he formed a collaboration with Manolis Vourekas (1905-1992) and Prokopis Vassiliadis (1912-1977). Projects resulting from this collaboration include the avant-garde Astir Beach and resort facilities in Glyfada (1955-58), the Public beach in Vouliagmeni
Vouliagmeni
Vouliagmeni is a seaside town and former municipality 20 km south of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 6,442 at the 2001 census. Vouliagmeni is among the most...
and the Argo and Oceanis restaurants (1959-61).
In 1959 he was chosen by Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
as an associate of the architectural firm TAC (The Architect’s Collaborative) for the construction of the new U.S Embassy in Athens
Embassy of the United States in Athens
The Embassy of the United States in Athens is the embassy of the United States in Greece, in the capital city of Athens. The embassy is charged with diplomacy and Greece–United States relations. The United States Ambassador to Greece is the head of the diplomatic mission of the United States to...
.
In 1966 he set up his first joint practice under the name “ P.A.Sakellarios and Associates”. His partners were his daughter Elisabeth Sakellariou-Senkowsky, her husband Hermann Senkowsky and his future wife Koula Kampani.
Sakellarios was a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece
Technical Chamber of Greece
The Technical Chamber of Greece is the Greek professional organization that serves as the official technical advisor of the Greek state and is responsible for awarding professional licences to all practicing engineers in Greece. It is a public legal entity with elected administration, supervised...
, the Architect’s Association, the Hellenic Architectural Society. He served as a board member of the International Union of Architect’s (UIA
UIA
UIA can refer to:* Inter-American University * Ukrainian Insurgent Army* Ukraine International Airlines* Universiti Islam Antarabangsa* Union of International Associations...
). He acted as technical advisor to the Greek National Organization and to the Psychiko Community.
In 1966 he was designated Commander of the Royal Order of the Phoenix, an honor awarded to him for his contribution to the country’s reconstruction.
In 1982, the Technical University of Graz awarded him an honorary diploma for his exceptional half-century of professional practice.
Influence on Modern Greek Architecture
Pericles Sakellarios was one of the leading figures in Greek architecture between 1936 and 1962. He constitutes a special case in his generation owing to his fifty-year career, a creative career made possible by the calm relations he maintained with his people, his country and his age.
The products of Sakellarios’ rare abilities and mild modernity included some exemplary buildings and complexes-mainly houses that attracted the interest of the international architectural press then, but have also stood the test of time.
He was able to slide over the boundaries of culture and style and this makes his work interesting. He moved easily between designing homes for the leisured into designing the new public architecture of leisure tourism: open-air cinemas, theaters, motels and beach resorts
Notable buildings
1932-1933 Apostolos Papageorgiou,Volos, private house1936 Vassilis Goumas house, Athens
1937-1939 Lambros Eftaxias residence, Athens
1947-1948 Dallis Restaurant, Athens
1949-1950 Greek Special Forces Chapel, Kavouri, Athens
1954-1958 Corfu Pallas Hotel, Corfu
1955-1958 Astir Beach and Resort Facilities (in collaboration)
1959-1961 Embassy of the United States in Athens
Embassy of the United States in Athens
The Embassy of the United States in Athens is the embassy of the United States in Greece, in the capital city of Athens. The embassy is charged with diplomacy and Greece–United States relations. The United States Ambassador to Greece is the head of the diplomatic mission of the United States to...
, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
(project by TAC)
1961 Corfu Harbour, Passenger Terminal
1962-1974 Corfu Municipal Theater
1962-1963 Architect’s own summer house in Corfu
1970 The Greek Pavilion in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
World’s Fair
1981-1982 Theodoros Angelopoulos, private house, Athens
Further reading
Helen Fessa-Emmanouil & E.Marmaras, Twelve Greek Architects of the Interwar Period, University Publications of Crete (ISBN 960-7646-74-6)Helen Fessa-Emmanouil, Essays on Neohellenic Architecture, (ISBN 960-91597-0-2) (Privately published by E.F.)
Savas Condaratos & Wilfried Wang, 20th - Century Architecture Greece, Prestel Verlag (ISBN 3-7913 -2152 -8)
Elisabeth Sakellariou & Helen Fessa-Emmanouil, An Architect's Vision, POTAMOS Publishers (ISBN 960-6691-00-4)
External links
- Sakellarios Summer House, Corfu
- http://www.corfupalace.com/main.html