Balconies Everywhere
Athens, unlike most other European cities, maximizes balcony space. Some Greeks use them for items that don’t fit inside, and others deck the space out with furniture. The most visually pleasing balconies are usually full of flowers, potted plants, and climbing clematis. These plants sometimes draw hummingbirds, bees, and other wild birds.
Greeks who spend time in foreign countries miss their Greek balconies, noting that in other cities like Paris, “it’s rare to have a balcony – an almost unattainable luxury.” Walking around Greece’s biggest cities and looking up at the apartment buildings, it’s hard to spot a building without a balcony, even in less desirable areas. Why does this happen in Greece, and not in other European hubs?
On the Greek Islands
This isn’t true just for the major cities of Greece, but also for the islands. Who doesn’t love to enjoy their morning coffee on the balcony overlooking the Mediterranean. And who hasn’t stopped on a Cycladic island simply to admire an island home’s exterior? Something is simple and soothing about the architecture.
There isn’t any research on this topic, but we made some guesses of why so many Greek homes have balconies, both in major cities and island villages.
Architectural Heritage
Panos Dragonas, a Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Patras, gives an architectural explanation. Dragonas says: “In the interwar apartment buildings, we see the change from bay windows to small open balconies.” In other words, areas that were once windows became balconies after the war.
Some architects go even further back with their reasoning. George Papadakis from the architectural office Cadu says that architecture in the ancient Greek world always created external covered spaces, like the ancient stoas and the hayiati. In today’s Athens, of course the balcony will still have a central role in the life of its people. “The identity of the modern Greek city is shaped by the aesthetics of the balcony and all of its accessories,” Papadakis says.
Balcony Regulations in Greece
Today, the New Building Regulation dictates the size of balconies in Greek cities. Balconies can protrude 2 meters from the building but cannot exceed 1/10 of the street below. This is why in areas of Greece with narrow streets, you have narrow balconies too.
In Greece, tiny balconies are commonly used by Greeks for smoke breaks or to drink their coffee in the sun, because it has just enough space to fit a small chair and a few plants.
The Greek Climate
The weather in Greece clearly plays a role in the balconies we see. When you compare it to colder climates in the rest of Europe and in the United States, Greeks use their balconies for more days of the year. In other cities, emphasis for building might be on digging deep for foundations (at least 6 feet down to get “beneath the frost.”). So, the focus is on building down, not on building “out.” For this reason, it is common to see cellars or basements in northern european buildings.
Polikatoikia (Athens Apartment Buildings)
If you look at the Athens skyline, you will notice that many buildings look similar. This is because in the 1950s and 1960s after the war, modernist buildings called “polikatoikia” were built all around Athens to rebuild the city quickly. The repetition of the concrete facing and endless balconies was not a coincidence. The goal was to be consistent.
In fact, usually a civil engineer designed the buildings, not an architect, because the goal was to build quickly and cheaply. Some of the family-sized apartments built at this time had balconies that were large enough for a dinner table and a line of plants.
