The central Athens district of Exarcheia was formally established in the 1870s. It began as a labor settlement, and by 1910 it was a thriving middle-class neighborhood with a nice mix of businesses and residences. In the 1920s, Kostis Antonopoulos purchased land in the area with the goal of building large, modern multi-family housing. Antonopoulos and his family owned a large construction company and had experience with large projects. Antonopoulos hired two men to assist him with the project: architect Kyriakoulis Panayiotakos and painter Spyros Papaloukas. At the time Athens…
