In this lunchtime lecture—part of the Nanovic Institute’s Faculty Fellow lecture series—Michael Lykoudis, professor of architecture, will discuss what we can learn from architecture and urbanism in Athens in the nineteenth century. The peoples of the world are facing an increasingly difficult future. These challenges include climate change and the inequitable distribution of resources, to mention just two. Athens, after its liberation in the nineteenth century quickly developed into a modern European capital city that redefined the Greek national identity.
There are many lessons to be learned from this period that may help us better understand how we might go forward to address the critical issues of our time—potentially in a period of long-term austerity and scarcity. The urbanism and architecture of nineteenth-century Athens were based on an economic model of investment and conservation in direct opposition to our current culture of consumption and waste. This talk will outline a few of those lessons learned and illustrate their application in the recent master plan to rebuild the wildfire-ravaged community of Mati.
Lykoudis has served as professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame since 1991. From 2004 to 2020 he was the School of Architecture’s first Dean following two years as Chair and eight years as Assistant and Associate Chair. Lykoudis has devoted his career to the building, study, and promotion of traditional architecture and urbanism as a way of addressing the critical issues of our time facing the built and natural environment. He has played a leading role in developing new initiatives within the School of Architecture, including the new traditional and urbanist curriculum and developing the Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame, the largest architectural prize in the world that is given annually. In 2019 he was named to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, an honor awarded to those who have made significant contributions to the profession.
The event is free and open to all. Boxed lunches will be available to attendees while supplies last.
Originally published at nanovic.nd.edu.