Constantinos A. Doxiadis

Constantinos A. Doxiadis, (1913-1975)

"In 1937 he was appointed Chief Town Planning Officer for the Greater Athens Area and during the war (1940-1945) held the post of Head of the Department of Regional and Town Planning in the Ministry of Public Works while also serving as a corporal in the Greek Army. During the Occupation he was Chief of the National Resistance Group, Hephaestus, and published a magazine called "Regional Planning, Town Planning and Ekistics," the only underground technical publication anywhere in occupied territories. At the time of Greece's liberation in 1945 he left the army with the rank of captain, and went to the San Francisco Peace Conference as a member of the Greek delegation. In 1945 he also served as Greece's representative to England, France and the United States on the problems of postwar reconstruction.

"From 1945 to 1951 Doxiadis was one of the prime leaders in restoring Greece to a normal peacetime existence, first as Undersecretary and Director-General of the Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction (1945-48), and subsequently as Minister-Coordinator of the Greek Recovery Program and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Coordination (1948-51). During these years he was also head of the Greek Delegation at the UN International Conference on Housing, Planning and Reconstruction (1947) and head of the Greek Delegation at the Greco-Italian War Reparations Conference (1949-50).

"In 1951 he founded Doxiadis Associates, a private firm of consulting engineers, with a small group of architects and planners, many of whom had worked with him on the Greek Recovery Program. The company grew rapidly until it had offices on five continents and projects in 40 countries, acquiring its legal form as DA International Co., Ltd., Consultants on Development and Ekistics, in 1963. In 1959 Doxiadis founded the Athens Technological Organization and in 1963 the Athens Center of Ekistics. From 1958 to 1971 he taught ekistics at the Athens Technological Organization and lectured at universities all over the United States as well as at Oxford and Dublin."

Leading figure in US Cold War policy

"Constantinos Doxiadis, the architect who during the 1950s and 1960s built new towns throughout the Middle East and Africa, was a leading figure in US Cold War policy. While hoping to inculcate democratic and free-market values in the developing world, the New Towns failed to take into account indigenous traditions."

Michelle Provoost (2006) talks of "the fascinating coalition of two parties, the Greek planner Constantinos Doxiadis and the American Ford Foundation, who together formed a powerful duo of vision and money. They had an intense relationship with lasting consequences for developing countries in the Middle East and Africa. Their cooperation shows how the so-called "neutral" introduction of large scale urban planning was anything but neutral. In fact, it was heavy with promises of freedom, democracy, and prosperity, and laden with ideals of community and emancipation."

Major Projects

Iran

• "Tourist development studies for the Caspian Sea coast, in collaboration with EMCO-Architects and Planners
• Five-year (1973-1977) national development program for housing and related facilities
• Social survey, proposals and aspects for housing of low income families in Tehran
• Detailed master plan for Farahnaz Recreation Town, in collaboration with EMCO-Architects and Planners
• Shiraz master plan, in collaboration with EMCOArchitects and Planners
• Study for the development of 15 rural centers in Iran, in collaboration with EMCO-Architects and Planners."

Resources and articles

External links

• "Constantinos A. Doxiadis", (Biographical note), Undated, Accessed July 2007.
• Michelle Provoost, "New towns on the Cold War frontier", Eurozine, June 2006.