Environments of Care: Two Children’s Village Projects in Postwar Greece

Abstract

Architecture held a central role in the child welfare programs developed in twentieth-century Greece. Τhis contribution discusses two key examples from the inter- and post-war periods: Panos-Nikolis Djelepy’s Children’s village in Voula, Athens (1933–34, 1936–39) and Emmanuel Vourekas’s Paidopoli in Agria, Volos (1955–58), both influenced by their respective political, social and cultural context. It explores how the projects have contributed to the establishment of a building typology centered around the imminent issue of the hospitality and care of the children and youth. A critical comparative analysis of the two projects is presented with a particular attention on the ways in which they addressed the relationship between building and context, inside and outside, nature and artifice, in line with the prevailing medical treatments in those days, casting a novel attention on issues of environmental performance.