Official opening of the fully remodeled area of the School of Philosophy’s former study rooms

The official opening of the fully remodeled area of the School of Philosophy’s former study rooms (rooms 743, 744, 745, and 746, on the 7^th floor of the School of Philosophy) took place on Friday, 2 December 2022. The area will now house offices of faculty members from the Departments of French Language and Literature, German Language and Literature, Educational Studies, laboratories of the Department of Philology and Philosophy, and lecture rooms.

The occasion marks the end of the first phase of a vital project that addresses basic functional and educational needs of the School of Philosophy. A large number of people from the School of Philosophy attended the event, testifying by their presence how crucial the remodeling project was.

The Rector of NKUA, Professor M.-A. Dimopoulos, presided over the ceremony and delivered a welcome address. The event was also addressed, among others, by the Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs, Professor D. Karadimas, the Vice-Rector of Research and Lifelong Education, Professor N. Voulgaris, the Dean of the School of Philosophy, Professor A. Chaldaeakes, the former Dean of the School of Philosophy, Ms E. Karamalengou, and the Director of the Technical Services of the University of Athens, Mr I. Barbaresos.

In his address, Professor Dimopoulos said, among other things, that ‘We are delighted to be here today for another infrastructure project at NKUA, the rearrangement of the area that has been vacant since the transfer of all study rooms and libraries from the School of Philosophy to the state-of-the-art new library building.

With this project, the University Authorities initiate a decisive intervention in an iconic University building, the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens, with rearrangement and renovation works, which will basically breathe new life into the place, catering for its current and future needs. The Dean’s Office collaborates on this, and the Technical Services of the University of Athens always lend their full assistance (…)

The project’s Technical Description entails rearranging the area formerly occupied by the School of Philosophy’s study rooms and libraries to provide modern infrastructures, such as new lecture rooms, laboratories, and offices. The design of the new spaces is supposed to meet the needs of the School of Philosophy’s Departments (…)

It is noteworthy that work on rearranging the rest of the study rooms and other areas is well underway (…)

We had already had the pleasure of officially opening room 917, the fully renovated concert hall of the Department of Music Studies, and room 624, which houses the Laboratory of Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics.

All works in progress at the School of Philosophy constitute significant interventions for the substantial upgrade of the School’s infrastructure in particular and NKUA’s in general, a priority that the University Authorities have set from the beginning of their tenure and are implementing with specific programmatic actions.

Further actions are underway for renovating the AULA amphitheatre and supplying it with new seating, shades, and other equipment.

At the same time, we have significantly improved our infrastructure through extensive waterproofing and sealing work, and we will continue to take all necessary measures.

We have also recently celebrated the official opening of a new library. Being amongst the largest in Greece, the library is housed in one of the most modern buildings in the world, which has already won architectural design awards.

Our University is constantly moving and progressing! All completed, ongoing, and planned works improve structures, infrastructures, and functions to firmly support our Institution’s extroversion, mainly the teaching, research, and broad social mission of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.’

The Dean of the School of Philosophy, Professor Achilleas Chaldaeakes, thanked everyone who contributed to the first phase of this ambitious project, namely the Rector of NKUA, Professor Meletios-Athanasios Dimopoulos, the Rector’s Council, and the Institution’s Senate; the former Dean of the School of Philosophy, Ms Eleni Karamalengou and the members of the Dean’s Office of the School of Philosophy from 2019 onwards; the Technical Services of the University of Athens and its staff, including the Director Mr Ioannis Barbaresos, the Head of the Technical Support Department, Ms Anastasia Dimopoulou, and Messrs Dimitris Moutsios and Vasilis Terzis; the Technical Director of the Network Operations Centre, Mr Spiros Bolis; the President of the Property Development and Management Company of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Professor Nikolaos Thomaidis; the Dean of the School of Science, Professor Ioannis Emmanouil; the Superintendence of the School of Philosophy, including the building’s former and current Superintendents, Messrs Petros Roussos and Giorgos Kouzas, as well as the Alternate Superintendents, Messrs Giorgos Lambos and Thodoris Chatzipavlou; the cleaning crew of the School; the Secretariat of the Dean’s Office; the contractor of the project and the supervisor, Mr Aggelos Tsekouras.

The Dean of the School of Philosophy also noted that ‘The remodeled area we officially opened today housed the Classical Philology and Philosophy study rooms. When entering the renovated space, School colleagues are still trying to figure out where the shelves with the works of ancient Greek and Latin literature, those with the philosophical essays, or even the desks on which they worked diligently to write their articles and monographs used to be. No doubt, there is a collective memory preserved even in the shell of the School building, but this memory undergoes a series of transformations. To describe the current effort, terms like “remodeling”, “restructuring”, “recontextualization”, “redefinition”, and “restart” are suitable; and it is perfectly justifiable to look for “new uses”, “further possibilities”, and “additional perspectives” for existing spaces. It is, however, appropriate to recall in this regard the famous wise saying that goes like this “Today mine, tomorrow someone else’s, and never anybody’s.”  This saying, inscribed on the lintel of many old Greek houses, reminds us of the futility of possessiveness and the pain we inflict for no reason on our souls. It is a phrase that discourages possessiveness in all its overt and covert manifestations. “Today mine, tomorrow someone else’s, and never anybody’s.” Never anybody’s! A strongly worded condemnation of all futile egotistical possessiveness. We hope that these spaces, free of any inappropriate form of personal possessiveness, will be overrun by young students, that they will retain their current aesthetic and functional order, that they will serve as venues for the advancement of primary research and the development of profound knowledge, that they will act not only as multipliers of national social benefit but also as a springboard for academic glory and that they will prove to be a fantastic chance to raise our School’s and our University’s scientific profile.’