Uploaded on 2020-05-15 by Lydia Giokari

The picture shows a construction site in Athens (Greece) in early construction phase. In Greece since the 1950s most of the buildings are constructed with reinforced concrete skeleton and bricks due to the low construction cost and the fact that the buildings should be resilient due to earthquakes. Modernism really influenced the construction in Greece, where the 85% of residential buildings are built in a reinforced concrete skeleton and pilotis even up to nowadays. The rest of the materials used oftenly are bricks, clay and local stones. In the building depicted after a talk with the construction workers I learnt that the steel and elements of concrete are from local Greek producers, as well as the bricks and roof tiles. The ceramic tiles used for the interior floors come from Italy and the steel window and door frames from Germany. On the circulation and common areas (entrance, stairs etc) local Greek marble is used. Alternative construction methods and use of more sustainable and circular material in construction is a discussion that has started lately in Greece and the government is searching for ways to promote new alternatives so that construction can become more sustainable and eco-friendly.