A New Way to See Ancient Athens

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SOURCE: WSJ

ATHENS -- As building locations go, it is unmatched. What could present more of a challenge than to design a major new structure to stand at the foot of the Acropolis, revered as one of the great architectural achievements of western civilization.

That new structure is the Acropolis Museum, which after more than 25 years in the making finally opened to the public last weekend. Braving the blazing sun and heat, thousands thronged immediately to its gates, eager to be among the first to explore the museum's vast collection of sculptures and artifacts from ancient Greece.

Confronting his own set of natural forces, Swiss-born architect Bernard Tschumi has been on a Greek odyssey for the past six years to finally get the €130 million structure off the ground after several setbacks. Efforts to create the museum began as far back as the 1970s. The last attempt, which was launched in 2003 under Mr. Tschumi's leadership, was dogged by delays due to archaeologists and local residents.

At first there was public resistance to the design of the museum -- whose glass and steel structure was deemed far too modern to compliment the classical style of the ancient temple. More delays were caused by the complicated transport of the delicate exhibits from the old museum located atop the Acropolis to the new one down below.

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