REX Theater facade & entrance restoration, Athens Greece
The Historical Building
Located at the lower section of Panepistimiou Street in the center of Athens, the Rex Cinema was built in the mid-1930s and was considered Athens’ first skyscraper, less for its height than its rectangular shape and façade, thought to be reminiscent of New York’s skyscrapers. Its vertical dimensions are emphasized by the extensive uninterrupted glass surfaces, the slender vertical pillars cladded in white marble, the two elevator tower protruding on the upper part and the extensive use of decorative lines of neon lighting.
Designed by the Ecole des Beaux Arts-trained Greek architects L. Bonis and V. Kassandras, as a multi-purpose entertainment venue, it features many Art Deco elements. For its day it was unique of its kind for the greek standards and until today is the biggest in the center of Athens.It was purposely built from the beginning to include a theater, two movie theaters, a bar and a music scene. At the ground floor was the big Rex movie theater which has been transformed today into a music scene. Upstairs was the Kotopouli Theatre, at that time the largest theatre in Athens; this section is now home to one of the National Theatre stages. At the basement was a ballroom and a smaller movie theater which was named Sineac from the french phase Cine Actuele (Contemporary movie theater in english). Today it houses the National Theatre Children Stage.
The project
- Extensive survey and documentation of the existing building, its unique features, period materials and construction details and the identification of later additions, alternations and modifications.
- Conservation and restoration of the original materials such as marble cladding and rough chiseled plaster with the principle of preserving the patina of time and using similar construction materials and methods with the original.
- Conservation - restoration of the original steel section windows, a strong characteristic of the 30's style.
- Structural analysis, evaluation and reinforcing of the steel-section canopy, reinstatement of the white glossy down surface as a reflector for the neon lights and re-surfacing the roof of the canopy with zinc.
- Redesign of various elements and fixtures on the ground floor. New elements were introduced to bring the venue in a contemporary context like new ticket booths, a continuous led strip information display and new steel section entrance doors for the National Theatre Children Scene.
- Reinstatement of the neon lighting for both communicative, decorative and illuminating purposes. The original red (neon) lighting is replaced with a contemporary pure white lighting to mark and reintroduce REX theater to the modern city of Athens.
1955
2014
at FLUX-OFFICE
