BENAKI MUSEUM, ARCHIVES CENTRE, KIFISIA, ATHENS (1990-1994)

The suburban villa of the Delta family in Kifisia has been the centre of the political and cultural activity of the beginning of the 20th century. In this house the notable politician Venizelos was very often a visitor as well as the most influential Greek writers and scholars of the period. Penelope Delta wrote most of her very influential children’s books in there. She lived there until she committed suicide the day the Germans entered Greece in April 1941.
The house was donated to the Benaki Museum to be used as the historic archives centre of the extensive collection of the institution. The renovation of the building was undertaken with great care, trying to preserve as much as possible the atmosphere of such an important eclectic villa of the end of the 19th century. The basement houses the archives, on the ground floor (through the unification of two adjoining rooms) a small multipurpose auditorium was formed together with a small exhibition room and finally on the upper level a reading room and the staff’s offices were placed.