Monument Hotel Athens 

Ernst Ziller (1837-1923) was a German born architect who was established as a major designer of royal and municipal buildings in Athens, Patras, and other Greek cities. We were asked to transform one of his most impressive neoclassical buildings in central Athens, featuring unique painted ceilings, into a new eight room hotel.

One could focus on a single detail of this renovation and consider it emblematic of the entire scheme. I am referring to the conservation of specific area on the second floor, at the perimeter of the plaster ceiling decoration. There, our conservator, as part of the renovation, locally removed the -later- white paint so as to disclose a rectangular section of the original, richly colored ceiling.

Within this limited area, in the so-called "witness", the conservator preserved the original colourful mural as well as the later white coating, recording how the aesthetic preferences of users had changed throughout history. Through this new, disciplined "peeling" which was not the result of weathering, we are offered a "momentary" escape into the past, in a palimpsest that retains clearly separated historical layers.

Project details

Project: Monument Hotel, the renovation of a listed E. Ziller building

Architectural, Interior design: MPLUSM ARCHITECTS

Memos Filippidis, Marita Nikoloutsou, Charitini Gritzali

Expert Conservator and Restorer: Vassilis Petropoulos

E/M design: Gerasimos Petratos

Lighting design: Orestis Parisis - FOSS S.A.

Brand Identity: G Design Studio

Web Site Design: Mozaik

Construction, renovation of structural, architectural elements and façades,

project management: Index Projects Tziviloglou - George Tziviloglou

Text: Memos Filippidis

Photos: Dimitris Poupalos Studio