The unknown slum of Ilisia

In the 1940s, one bank of the Ilisos River in Athens was a large slum, with shacks set up there by refugees who arrived after the 1922 Asia Minor Catastrophe. Alexander Tzonis, an architect and professor emeritus of the Delft University of Technology who grew up nearby, was deeply fascinated with the ingenuity of the community and sought to immortalize it in photos. He later also documented the area in sketches and watercolors as a student. The exhibition “Shacks: Catastrophe and Creation” is taking place at the Canadian Institute in Athens until July 12. The building of the institute is located on the banks of the former Ilisos River and was the home of writer Stratis Doukas, a refugee of 1922 himself. [Alexandros Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre Archive]