The Museum of the Hellenic World (complex C) in the Cultural Park of the Hellenic Cosmos (CPHC) The building concept concerns a museum of history, not of original historical exhibits. The design principle is based on the spatio-psychoanalytic concept of lack, deeply routed in Greek culture, as critique against the notions of “collection” and “acquisition”. Both as sense of loss of original pieces as well as creative spatial process, lack, led to the formulation of a new museological approach integrating exhibition and builiding into one. Spatiality is conceived, as the mode of history, and highlighted both as the major diachronic documentation of Greek civilisation and the main concept of the building: a spatial monument as opposed to a symbolic memorial. The building consists of a continuous strip which evolves across the building and produces homeomorphic curved schemes in three distinct, spatial gestures/installations: a) the amphitheatre presenting Classical Antiquity, b) the dome presenting Byzantium, c) the sheltering cell presenting Modern times (17th – early 20th century), covering the overall museum space. Accordingly, three distinct lighting treatments are proposed: a) bright daylight, small sharp shadows, b) indirect, ambient, no shadows, c) cinematic side-lighting, long shadows. Yet, the strip surface employs a gradient synthesis of materials and construction techniques – varying from: a) tectonic, marble, stone, b) cast material, c) timber, glass and metal structures. The Museum of the Hellenic World has already received wide international publicity and appreciation. It was presented in the 8th ‘Next’ Venice Biennale 2002, and in numerous publications exhibitions and conferences all around the world. It currently appears in the international traveling exhibition “Museums of the 21st Century” organized by the Art-Centre Basel (2006-2011).
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