A new chapter in its history is opening for the Gini building, one of the most emblematic buildings of the National Technical University of Athens. Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank and Piraeus will provide a total of 25 million euros, equally, over the next three years, for the restoration and reopening of the Gini building, which for a century has borne a strong connection both with the academic history of the Polytechnic and with the history of Athens.
The donation falls within the framework of a total sponsorship of 560 million euros from the four banks for Education, which covers all levels of public education from kindergarten to university.
The Gini building was constructed in the 1920s and expanded in the 1960s, based on designs by Professor Kostas Kitsikis. It is a historic architectural monument of the 20th century, which has remained closed for many years. After the completion of the restoration works, the historic Polytechnic complex will be reintroduced into the urban fabric of Athens, with the Gini building evolving into a research hub, a conference center for arts and sciences, and an open museum of technology.
At a special ceremony organized today by the National Technical University of Athens, the Rector of NTUA, Professor Ioannis Chatzigeorgiou, welcomed the CEOs of Alpha Bank Vassilis Psaltis, of Eurobank Fokion Karavias, the General Manager of Transformation, Strategy & International Activities of the National Bank Ernesto Panagiotou, the Chairman of the Board of Piraeus Group Giorgos Chatzinikolaou, the Chairman of the Board of the Hellenic Bank Association Giorgos P. Zanias and the acting General Director of the HBA Charoula Apalagaki, whom he also guided through the building of the historic Rectorate.
In his address, the Rector of the National Technical University of Athens Ioannis Chatzigeorgiou stated: “Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank and Piraeus are highlighting their social face through very substantial donations aimed at improving the infrastructure of public educational institutions, tangibly supporting public education. Following the ‘Marietta Giannakou’ program concerning the renovation and upgrading of the country’s public school buildings, the four banks are broadening the framework of their Corporate Social Responsibility actions by turning their attention to corresponding initiatives in Public Universities. The National Technical University of Athens is grateful to the four banks for the donation of 25 million euros, which will be directed, as we have already committed, as a priority to the restoration and reopening of the Gini Building in the Historic Complex of NTUA on Patision Street. The restoration of the Gini Building, the unique neoclassical structure of the beginning of the last century, in which generations of NTUA students were taught and trained, constitutes a visionary project for our emblematic Institution and a vision of our entire Polytechnic community for many years. With the implementation of the project, thanks to the four banks and the technical assistance of the Hellenic Bank Association, a unique Conference and Exhibition Center of ‘Arts and Sciences’ will be created in combination with a ‘Museum of Technology’ and cultural spaces. The proposal of the National Technical University of Athens is not narrowly limited to the implementation of this highly important undertaking, for the Institution, the capital, and the country as a whole. It additionally aims at upgrading the wider area for the benefit of citizens and Greek society.”
The CEO of Alpha Bank Vassilis Psaltis stated:
“The restoration of the Gini building is not only about preserving an important part of the Polytechnic’s history. It is mainly about its future: the possibility of giving life again and a modern purpose to an emblematic space of knowledge and creation. With this donation, the four banks are making a tangible contribution so that the public University has the infrastructure worthy of its students, researchers, and people. It is a meaningful way to return lasting value to society.”
The CEO of Eurobank Fokion Karavias noted: “For those of us who began our academic journey at the National Technical University of Athens, this contribution does not only generate the obvious feeling of emotion. At the same time, it constitutes the fulfillment of a moral duty toward this institution which, through its teaching and research staff, its students and its graduates, emerged as a point of reference for wider Greek society. Thus it contributed, as few other institutions did, to the evolution of education and the economy and, ultimately, to the shaping of modern Greece.”
The General Manager of Transformation, Strategy & International Activities of the National Bank Ernestos Panagiotou, stated: “The emblematic Gini building is returning to the academic life of the Polytechnic and also to the life of the city. Our significant investment in Education — from the school classroom to the university amphitheater — continues with the aim of more opportunities for knowledge, research and creation for young people.”
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Piraeus Group Giorgos Chatzinikolaou stated: “The donation of the four banks to NTUA constitutes a substantial investment in the young men and women who will build the country’s tomorrow. The banks have consistently supported Education because we believe that the human capital developed through knowledge, critical thinking and specialization at Universities is the main pillar for the country’s sustainable economic development and the long-term prosperity of our society.”
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Bank Association Giorgos P. Zanias, in the address he delivered during the ceremony, noted: “When an amphitheater closes, the world loses an opportunity to become better. For decades, generations of engineers were educated in the amphitheaters of the Gini building; a large part of the Polytechnic’s history was written there. With the completion of the restoration project, the building will regain its valuable role, it will once again be filled with students, with knowledge and creation, functioning as a modern space of Education, culture and innovation, open to the academic community and to society.”
Within the framework of the ceremony, the plan for utilizing the donation of the four banks was presented and, as emphasized by the Member of the NTUA Administration Council, Professor Evangelos Sapountzakis, after its restoration the Gini building will constitute a model of environmental, structural and architectural restoration of a historic monument of the 20th century.
With the start of the procedures for the restoration of the Gini building, the gradual implementation begins of a donation of 160 million euros from the four banks to the country’s three historic academic institutions: the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Metsovio Polytechnic, and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The donation of 160 million euros from the banks Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank and Piraeus for the next three years, combined with the 400 million euros of their sponsorship of the Marietta Giannakou Program, through which 670 kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools and high schools throughout Greece have already been upgraded, make up the largest Corporate Social Responsibility initiative in Greece, totaling 560 million euros.