Historic school at the mercy of time and vandals

Signs of utter neglect haunt the disused 14th Primary School on Athens’ central Sina Street, designed by influential 20th-century Greek architect Dimitris Pikionis. The architect himself may have disowned his work on the school but history thought otherwise, singling it out as among the most important examples of early modernist public architecture that still stands in the Greek capital. However, the historic educational complex has been at the mercy of time and vandals for years, recently coming under attack by non-students who broke into two classrooms and burned desks, books, stationery and toys. A restoration study for the building that was carried out a few years ago has been ignored. The memorandum of cooperation between the Athens Municipality and the non-profit Dimitris Pikionis company was signed in 2017 but expired after three years and was not renewed. The school has seen numerous interventions since the 1930s.