In his address at an event to present the results of the architectural design competition "Re-Think Athens" organised by the Onassis Foundation Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said that the symbolic nature of the plan to revamp downtown Athens "shows that there are live forces in our society that can envision a different Greece and a different Athens through the darkness of the crisis."
"The revamping of Panepistimiou Street, the intervention at the bay of Faliro and the real estate development at Ellinikon, where a large metropolitan park will be created, constitute the triangle of this rebirth," he said, stressing that "the coastal front stretching from Faliro to Sounio" will also be developed soon.The Dutch architectural firm OKRA won the competition with a proposal described by Onassis Foundation president Antonis Papademetriou as "simple but not simplistic, absolutely applicable, functional and true to the spirit of Athens, taking under consideration the city's prospects and potential while focusing on its citizens and their needs."
The architectural, bio-climatic and technical studies of the competition were funded by the Onassis Foundation.