Athens: Formal/Spontanteous

Abstract

The ‘formal/spontaneous’ pair are not literally opposite poles. Nevertheless, in a search for the synonyms for its two constituents with architecture as a field of reference, the impression of a dipole seems to be reinforced, and shades of meaning emerge which make them jointly appropriate, as a culmination of attributes, to describe and interpret Athens and its architecture, and when theoreticised, to serve as a starting-point for new planning.