4 ms·

What I say to my non-Greek friends is that Athens is a really beautiful city, because it is really ugly. I have yet to meet a person living in Athens that likes

What I say to my non-Greek friends is that Athens is a really beautiful city, because it is really ugly. I have yet to meet a person living in Athens that likes these buildings for any other reasons than that you've grew up in them. In fact, the houses made in what Greeks call "neo-classical" style are considered to be a major improvement. This is the style you can find in the area of Plaka, Metz etc.

dr_dshiv 6y ago
That's helpful to know. I've always thought they were really ugly but I can't put my finger on why. I wonder why the tenements of Amsterdam aren't as practical. I guess they miss out on big balconies....
StavrosK 6y ago
I don't think any Greek likes them, but I think most of the problem is that each one looks different. They don't have a common aesthetic, so the city looks like you bumped your building tray and all your buildings fell over and now you can't be bothered to sort them all again.
- bawana 6y ago
  The ugliness is only visible from 10000 feet. Up close, the uniqueness of each building, the uniqueness of each intersection, street width, flora, etc gives each neighborhood the character that allows a human to grow their identity, their feeling that they too are unique, that they have a place in the world that is ‘justified and allowed to be different, even unique’
deleted 6y ago
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fifnir 6y ago
The one beauty I can attribute to polykatoikies is the balconies. They are often filled with plants (at least my parents kept it that way) which makes for your little private oasis in the mess that is Athens. Neoclassicals don't have that
lazyjones 6y ago
Many people call Vienna beautiful, but I have a direct comparison. I spent most of my childhood in Attica (northern suburbs, 8 Km from Syntagma square, so basically still Athens), in 5 different polykatoikies. All of them had balconies, bidets, elevators, good heating, plenty of light, were quiet and relatively clean. Here in Vienna, I've had one apartment with terrace and 0 with balconies (of 6 total I've lived in), lots of noise, thin walls and dirt. Elevators and toilets inside the apartment were often added in the last 20-30 years in older buildings, balconies are often impossible and you usually have noisy and somewhat dangerous gas heating with boilers inside the apartment. IOW, housing quality in Athens was significantly better even though back then we were lower middle class (my mother was a single mother with 2 kids). The apartment I'm sitting in right now cost me approx. €750k (for 75m²) and has no balconies. I don't want to go back to Athens, but apartments are typically much better there. FWIW, the house I lived in from 1985-1990 is still standing and looks exactly the same: https://www.google.at/maps/@38.0225488,23.8094767,3a,65.9y,1.68h,85.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3_8MyvXKL4he7EzqqbAOnQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=de https://www.google.at/maps/@38.0225488,23.8094767,3a,65.9y,1...
- mFixman 6y ago
  I did a similar move from flats in Buenos Aires with balconies, bidets, and modern lifts to flats without those things in London. I would choose the London ones every time. In paper they might seem worse, but in practice my current flat is much better: London is much less noisy than Buenos Aires, nearby flats don't usually get robbed, and I'm reasonably sure that the fire alarm works. My large and beautiful Buenos Aires flat had an alarm that stayed silent during a major fire.

dr_dshiv 6y ago

That's helpful to know. I've always thought they were really ugly but I can't put my finger on why. I wonder why the tenements of Amsterdam aren't as practical. I guess they miss out on big balconies....

StavrosK 6y ago

I don't think any Greek likes them, but I think most of the problem is that each one looks different. They don't have a common aesthetic, so the city looks like you bumped your building tray and all your buildings fell over and now you can't be bothered to sort them all again.

bawana 6y ago
The ugliness is only visible from 10000 feet. Up close, the uniqueness of each building, the uniqueness of each intersection, street width, flora, etc gives each neighborhood the character that allows a human to grow their identity, their feeling that they too are unique, that they have a place in the world that is ‘justified and allowed to be different, even unique’

deleted 6y ago

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fifnir 6y ago

The one beauty I can attribute to polykatoikies is the balconies. They are often filled with plants (at least my parents kept it that way) which makes for your little private oasis in the mess that is Athens. Neoclassicals don't have that

lazyjones 6y ago

Many people call Vienna beautiful, but I have a direct comparison. I spent most of my childhood in Attica (northern suburbs, 8 Km from Syntagma square, so basically still Athens), in 5 different polykatoikies. All of them had balconies, bidets, elevators, good heating, plenty of light, were quiet and relatively clean. Here in Vienna, I've had one apartment with terrace and 0 with balconies (of 6 total I've lived in), lots of noise, thin walls and dirt. Elevators and toilets inside the apartment were often added in the last 20-30 years in older buildings, balconies are often impossible and you usually have noisy and somewhat dangerous gas heating with boilers inside the apartment. IOW, housing quality in Athens was significantly better even though back then we were lower middle class (my mother was a single mother with 2 kids). The apartment I'm sitting in right now cost me approx. €750k (for 75m²) and has no balconies. I don't want to go back to Athens, but apartments are typically much better there. FWIW, the house I lived in from 1985-1990 is still standing and looks exactly the same: https://www.google.at/maps/@38.0225488,23.8094767,3a,65.9y,1.68h,85.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3_8MyvXKL4he7EzqqbAOnQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=de https://www.google.at/maps/@38.0225488,23.8094767,3a,65.9y,1...

mFixman 6y ago
I did a similar move from flats in Buenos Aires with balconies, bidets, and modern lifts to flats without those things in London. I would choose the London ones every time. In paper they might seem worse, but in practice my current flat is much better: London is much less noisy than Buenos Aires, nearby flats don't usually get robbed, and I'm reasonably sure that the fire alarm works. My large and beautiful Buenos Aires flat had an alarm that stayed silent during a major fire.