Εγχώρια αρχιτεκτονική κεραμική στην Ελλάδα του Μεσοπολέμου: θεματολογία και εφαρμογές

Abstract

During the inter-war period, and within the context of the general rhetoric of "Hellenism", a series of Greek ceramics blending Ancient Greek, Byzantine, Asia Minor and Folk patterns were produced. This trend became the focus of interest of designers and entrepreneurs, in their effort to establish a new extrovert and competitive Greek artistic production. The ceramic crafts (predominantly the firms of "Kerameikos" and '"Kutahya") promoted this revival through the hiring of wellknown artists as managers and their participation in international fairs. The inter-war ceramic products were used not only as household in private residences of the Greek upper bourgeoisie, but also as architectural decoration in prestigious public buildings, such as the Greek Parliament and a number of National Bank buildings. In this essay, based on archival, literature and field research, we will focus our attention to the ceramics used on the facades of six buildings of the National Bank of Greece, located in Athens as well as in the province. We argue that the ceramic decoration of the Bank buildings (and particularly the friezes) encompasses all the above inter-war trends, concentrating and integrating an entire era in Greece's cultural history. An era that ends by the end of the second world war (WWII), when the domestic crafts can no longer compete with the European producers, gradually falling into decline. In conclusion we suggest that this block of buildings could be added on as a coherent paradigm, in our ceramic education curriculum, for three distinct reasons; although designed and produced by Greek potters they are comparable to relevant practices in Europe, they are unique (since they do not appear after the WWII) and are extremely rare as exterior decoration in Greek public buildings.