Megaron Mousikis Athinon – Opera House

In 2002 Megaron Mousikis Athinon was the largest Concert Hall in Athens and was in the process of being extended further by a vast extension, including underground opera house, conference center, library and so on. Christopher Alexander was approached by the president of OMMA to design the marble floors of the new extension. It was estimated that 8,000 m2 of multicolored marble floors had to be produced and installed in a limited amount of time. The design of the floors was worked out in real size, making paper mock-ups on the floor of the C.E.S. warehouse, trying to be as precise as possible on the size and color of each piece of marble to be used. The production for the thousands of marble pieces required was to be done by using computer-controlled water jet cutters, which could cut the pieces of the floor at reasonable cost and in a reasonable time.