exterior shot of the new acropolis museum
(photo credit: christian richters)

the new acropolis museum designed by bernard tschumi architects opened at the end of last month in
athens, greece. the new museum was specifically designed to house the unique collection of archeological
remains and boasts over 150,000 square feet of exhibition space. tschumi deliberately created a non
monumental building, allowing the importance of the artifacts within to be the feature. the final design
evokes the classical clarity of ancient greek architecture, updated for the context of today. the project began
in 2001 when tschumi was selected in a design competition. during pre-construction, it was discovered that
the museum’s site contained remains from ancient athens, which were then integrated into the building
design. the final structure has three layers, the base, middle and top. the base hovers over the remains while
the middle houses the main exhibition space. the top houses the parthenon gallery and is rotated 23 degrees
from the rest of the building, aligning directly with the parthenon.

http://www.tschumi.com


a view of the new acropolis museum from the acropolis. 
(photo credit: bernard tschumi architects)


outside the new acropolis museum looking at the entrance canopy
(photo credit: christian richters)


view from the archaeological excavations, looking up to the ground level of the new acropolis museum
(photo credit: christian richters)


view of the parthenon from outside the new acropolis museum
(photo credit: bernard tschumi architects)


statues from the porch of the caryatids welcome visitors
(photo credit: peter mauss/esto)


the parthenon gallery
(photo credit: peter mauss/esto)


the archaic gallery 
(photo credit: peter mauss/esto)


view of the excavations at the museum entrance at night
(photo credit:  peter mauss/esto )


aerial view of the new acropolis museum and surrounding area
(photo credit: nikos daniilidis)


view of the museum, showing archaeological excavations on the site 
(photo credit: christian richters)