Technopolis (Gazi), Athens

In 2013, the old Gasworks of Athens were reopened as industrial museum. Besides the heritage and educational programs, the complex also functions as a cultural hub and event space: Technopolis. This spring, for example, the Technopolis jazz festival was held here on an open air stage. Today, the area is one of the main nightlife hotspots in Athens.

The gasworks operated from 1862 until 1984. At the time it was the first energy plant in Greece and it had an immense structuring effect on the city’s expansion along the Pireos street and social life around it. Street lighting on coal gas illuminated an increasing part of the city. Gazi, the neighbourhood directly around the factory, became an ethnic and cultural melting pot, fueled by migration of the industrial workers. The unique selling point as an industrial museum is that the whole process of coal gas production can still be seen, from the coal retorts and chimneys to the condensers, purifiers, washer-scrubbers, meters and control rooms.