The New Acropolis Museum sits in the shadow of the Parthenon, its uppermost gallery set parallel to the ancient temple.
The base of the museum hovers over ongoing archaeological excavations, which visitors can view from balconies and through glass flooring.
As exemplified by a gallery of archaic sculpture, with its forest of columns, Tschumi’s design is a distillation of ancient Greek architectural principles.
The caryatids look across Tschumi’s central atrium to pediment sculptures from the Parthenon.
Angled walls of stainless steel on the east and west façades block out the harshest sunlight.
The Parthenon frieze remnants, metopes, and pediment sculptures occupy the light-filled top floor gallery.
