Maria Kokkinou, Benaki Museum architect, dies

Marina Kokkinou, a prominent Greek architect, died Sunday.

With her husband, Andreas Kourkoulas, with whom she had founded Kokkinou Kourkoulas Architects and Associates in 1987, she was involved in many projects, private but also public, in all types of buildings, including, later in her career, renovations.

In an interview, the couple pointed out to the Benaki Museum, on Pireos St., built from 2001-5, as their emblematic project.

Kokkinou had graduated with a Degree in Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens in 1979, followed by a Master of Science (1981) and a Ph.D. In “Linguistics in Architectural Theory and Criticism after Modernism” at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College, London (1986).

She was also employed for two years (1981 – 83) at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.), an international architecture firm founded by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

Besides her private practice, Kokkinou was a Professor of Architecture at her alma mater, NTUA, since 1992.