The Visitors Center at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center has opened its doors

The Visitors Center was designed by two young Greek architecture students, Agis-Panagiotis Mourelatos and Spyridon Giotakis. In March 2013, renowned architect and designer of the SNFCC, Renzo Piano, pronounced the two students winners of the National Architectural Student Competition for the design of the Visitors Center, which was organized and funded by the SNFCC. 

The museology team of Erato Koutsoudaki and her associates, Andromahi Gazi, Christoforos Brellis and Kalliopi Koutroubi, were the Visitors Center’s interior designers. The Center was constructed by Ballian technical contractors, and all relevant studies were undertaken by Betaplan, LDK and OMETE. 

The Visitors Center is a light, temporary and recyclable structure with simple design lines and a transparent form, which matches the aesthetics of Renzo Piano’s designs for the SNFCC. Through the Visitors Center, the public will have the opportunity to see the SNFCC construction site up close, for the first time, and to learn about the intensive works for the construction and development of a complex project whose completion, in approximately two years’ time, will radically change the cityscape of Athens. 

The purpose of the Visitors Center is to give citizens of all ages the opportunity to find out about SNFCC and to learn more about its future role, its history, and its structure, as well as to serve as a venue for cultural and educational activities and events, open to the wider public. 

Given that the common denominator of all activities to be held at the Visitors Center is the SNFCC and the organizations it will host in the future, the interior of the Visitors Center consists of four themed corners, equipped with interactive screens that introduce the public to the cultural prospects of the Greek National Opera, the research and social dimensions of the National Library of Greece, and the environmental identity of the Stavros Niarchos Park. The fourth and final corner of the Center is dedicated to children and focuses on introducing them to the SNFCC in a gradual and interactive way. It is worth noting that the layout of its interior is particularly flexible, allowing it to be used for multiple purposes, which can also be extended to the outdoor area of the Esplanade. 

The opening of the Visitors Center will also signify the beginning of guided public tours of the SNFCC construction site, aimed at introducing the public to this important project and informing them on the particulars of its construction and its progress. Visits to the construction site will be held every two weeks and run by expert associates of the SNFCC, who will take the public on a guided tour of the project’s developments. 

Yiannis Trohopoulos, General Manager and CEO of the SNFCC, said: “If I were to describe the Visitors Center with a single word, I would use the word “transparent”. With a transparent design and, most importantly, transparent operation, the Visitors Center was conceived and created with a dual goal: to offer free and open access to the public, and to bring the citizens even closer to the ambitious idea of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. Designed by two creative representatives of our country’s new generation and managed by the SNFCC, we hope that the Visitors Center will become a friendly place of leisure for the city’s residents, a resource that will inform and raise the public’s awareness on the progress of this major project that is being constructed: the SNFCC”. 

In accordance with the SNFCC’s original decision, the Visitors Center will remain open until the project’s scheduled completion, in late 2015. 

Information on guided tours of the SNFCC construction site for the public, as well as the program of future events, will be posted in the next few days on www.snfcc.org. 

Additional information on the Visitor Center:

Getting there: 

By bus: Get off at the “Onasseio” stop along Syggrou Avenue and make your way to the pedestrian bridge, whose entrance is a few meters away, on Euripidou Street. The pedestrian bridge leads to the Visitors Center. 

From Palaio Faliro: Use the underground pass at the Planetarium to cross to the opposite side of the road, and then make your way to the pedestrian bridge, whose entrance is on Euripidou Street.

By tram: Get off at the Delta Falirou stop and make your way to the Visitors Center via the Esplanade.

The Visitors Center is also accessible via the Kallithea Yacht Club on Poseidonos Avenue, and along the Esplanade. 

Opening hours: 

Tuesday to Sunday: 10:00-16:30

The Visitors Center will be closed on Mondays.