The Happy Turtle: Open House Athens 2016 (Part I)

Ah! Springtime!

Any excuse to get out of the house and spend some time wandering around, seeing, watching, smelling the freshly planted yards and idly sinking in the air.

I had a very good excuse to go aout and about this weekend.

OHA

Otherwise known as

Open house Athens

is a non-profit worth knowing about, especially if you are in the housing/real estate/interiors/architecture domain.

Open House is one of the most important global institutions for the promotion of architecture. The idea began at London in 1992 and until today it has spread to many cities around the globe. The Open House project invites the public to explore and understand the value of architecture.

Every year for one weekend, private and public buildings open their gates to everyone for free and the city is transformed to a big museum, with its buildings and architecture being the exhibits.

Open House has already taken place for two years in Athens (4-6th April 2014, 15-17th May 2015) with an enthusiastic response from the public. In 2015, 370 volunteers took part in the project, who attended the tours in 68 spaces, while about 20.000 visitors were noted.

The third Open House Athens is scheduled for the 15th, 16th & 17th of April 2016

I visited first the Angeliki Hatzimichali (1895-1965) residence, a dear place from my years at The Lyceum Club of Greek Women (Lykeion ton Hellenidon) and all my interest and work for Folk Tradition, the Dora Stratou foundation and UNESCO. Here is the description:

A three-storey residential building built in 1924 to plans by A. . Zachos . Today it houses the Centre of Folk Art and Tradition

(You may have a look at the other locations here.)

Here are some of the pictures I took for you.

Outside and internal garden