Iosif Arabatzis: The building's facade belongs to the city

The most highly acclaimed cities in the world, the ones everyone wants to visit at least once in their lifetime, all have a common advantage. Firstly, they have managed to maintain the look and feel of their traditional buildings intact. Secondly, they have ensured that modern buildings are compliant with specific standards so that the city as a whole displays a cohesive image with a distinct character, plan, and vision. 

Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for Athens. Its exceptional charm may be undisputed, but at the same time, it displays an image marred by rampant construction. Buildings of every type, age, and quality are squeezed into a noisy tapestry we are all obligated to pass through and denounce every day. 

Across that mishmash, buildings with genuine architectural, historical, and aesthetic value tend to disappear, failing to become models for what we build in the future.  

As we confront that reality, we cannot but think how things could be different if everyone involved in real estate development and use followed the axiom that a building’s facade doesn’t belong to anyone but the city and the people who live in it, permanently or briefly. 

That’s precisely what we believe in EPIKYKLOS, and we follow it in every project, requiring our collaborators to align their work with our construction philosophy. Meanwhile, we have taken significant action to ensure the long-term protection of our buildings’ facades against arbitrary and faulty interventions. 

In each of our projects, the architectural design incorporates the idea that our building’s facade must meet certain requirements regarding what we add to the respective neighborhood’s character and the city in general. During this stage, it’s the architect’s grave responsibility to provide the optimal design solutions under the obligation of an aesthetic proposal that organically interacts with its environment and can potentially stand the test of time. 

As a construction firm, we always stay on the architect’s side, contributing our know-how as needed and providing guidelines according to our vision for our buildings and the city. Eventually, we strive to optimally implement their design with cutting-edge techniques and high-quality materials that ensure excellent, robust construction and a long life cycle. 

In the next phase, as we deliver the building to its owners, we make sure it will remain intact on the exterior. Through a joint effort with specialized scientists and academics, we have created an innovative frame of contractual obligations. Our pioneering legal agreement allows the owner-investor increased liberties regarding the use of their property’s interiors while binding them indefinitely against making any changes to the building’s facade. 

That way, we aim to create a legacy not only of completed construction projects but mostly of practices stemming from the idea that those projects’ exterior appearance is an integral part of a significant whole. 

That whole is our city to which we deliver our building’s facades to contribute our part in upgrading its present and co-shaping its future.