I visited this site on the Phaleron Delta for the first time in June 2007, having been invited by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to document the stages of Renzo Piano’s unique construction site photographically, as well as through the prism of my experience as an architect. Since that time, slowly and steadily, without fanfare or tension, the landscape has changed radically. Hundreds of workers and engineers were installed and heavy machinery set to work, forever reshaping this place, transforming it gradually from a residual urban void to the city’s cultural and artistic center.

During the construction of the SNFCC, I had the privilege of observing a landscape in transition. When the project is completed and opens its doors to the public, its users—lovers of music, readers, strollers in the park, families, and other visitors—will perhaps be under the impression that the place was always there in the form in which they see it.

Photographing the US Embassy in Athens has been a long goal of mine ever since I first saw the Athens Chancery standing tall in the centre of the city. Mirroring four identical facades towards all directions and completed on July 4, 1961, the Embassy building was designed by Walter Gropius, one of the most celebrated representatives of the famed Bauhaus School. The Chancery, as it officially called, is in the shape of a perfect square with a center court, enclosing a planted area and fountain. The landscaped courtyard provides a place for discussion and meeting. Gropius placed a reflecting pool at the main entrance and fountains in the landscape to create serene settings and cooling from the Greek sun.