Big Olive

23/03/2026

Bo01 urban generation: a waterfront district planned as a model for sustainable living, developed by the City of Malmö as part of the 2001 European Housing Expo. The masterplan was led by Klas Tham, with contributions from multiple international architects, creating a neighborhood with varied styles and human scale, inspired by different urban traditions.

Next to it, Turning Torso rises as Malmö’s landmark. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the tower twists as it goes up, giving the city a strong, recognizable skyline while contrasting with the lower, more diverse fabric of Bo01.
/ Site visit to Sweden/

Images: Yannis Zaras

19/03/2026

Greece meets Denmark.
At Cisternerne in Copenhagen, Marina Abramović’s Seven Deaths revisits Maria Callas through seven operatic deaths-intense, dramatic, emotionally absolute. Callas anchors the work in a very familiar territory: tragedy, excess, and surrender to feeling.

The setting sharpens it further. Cisternerne (“The Cisterns) is a 19th-century underground water reservoir beneath Frederiksberg, now an exhibition space- dark, cold, and echoing like a submerged cathedral.
On view now.

Images: Yannis Zaras

12/03/2026

We’d love to see this one at the ❤️

10/03/2026

Dialogues in the contemporary side of Neos Kosmos.
The expansion of the Grand Hyatt complex, new residential developments, and the “Amphibian” rooftop restaurant at the Onassis Stegi signal the area’s emerging urban profile. At the same time, the relaxed mood of Naïf bistro and the surrounding “metakafeneia” keeps the neighborhood grounded, shaping its new character.

08/03/2026

We are deeply interested in those ethnic identities that, over the centuries, have forged cultures, ways of life, harvests, tables, feasts, moments of joy. One such identity is that of the Arvanites in the Mesogeia region of Attica, whose presence has shaped the land for more than six centuries.

The Mesogeian taverna offers simple yet honest meals: Greek salad (horiátiki), tyrokafteri, sausage, lamb or mutton chops. And it carries a vision for the future: that this sense of rootedness will once again reclaim the place it deserves. Way to go George & team!

02/03/2026

🏛️Fragments Of Memory Worth Saving ///
On the rocks of Lemos Vouliagmenis, almost hidden from view, sits a tiny seaside chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas.

Built in 1947 by painter and sculptor Nikolaos Xenos, it was created stone by stone at a time when the spot was accessible only by boat. Xenos ferried the materials himself.

More an oversized icon stand than a church, it has a small bell tower, a pebble-and-marble façade, and an interior that fits just one person. Its handmade mosaic quality and organic composition bring to mind something of Antoni Gaudí: humble, tactile, almost naïvely monumental.

Today, this jewel gives a moment of stillness amid the vast and rapid spread of high-end retail developments in the surrounding areas

16/02/2026

Contemporary sculpture, Monumental scale. In a tiny mountain village.

The Theodoros Papagiannis Museum of Contemporary Art>, founded by sculptor Theodoros Papagiannis, is housed in a former primary school in Elliniko / Tzoumerka area.

Steel, marble, human archetypes, migration, memory -all set against the raw landscape of Epirus.

At our trips, we seek out places that redefine what “cultural destination” means.
This is exactly why we’re here: to show that contemporary Greece doesn’t only live in capitals , it thrives where you least expect it.

23/10/2025

In the making: We are in Rome for a day, exploring Testaccio, once the beating heart of working-class Rome and trade. From the ancient “Monte dei Cocci” to the 19th-century Mattatoio / Slaughterhouses (Gioacchino Ersoch, 1888–1891), this district chronicles the city’s transformation from papal seat to modern capital.

Today, the Mattatoio is a laboratory of reuse, home to La Pelanda, Città dell’Altra Economia, and Roma Tre Architecture.

Across the street, the Nuovo Mercato di Testaccio (Marco Rietti, 2012) continues the dialogue: a covered yet open market that reinterprets the traditional “mercato all’aperto”.

We’re here to study how this area -once defined by labor and logistics- became a model of cultural reinvention and a reference for architects and policymakers alike.

—

20/10/2025

Big Olive takes its first step into the world of core music production. We were proud to co-produce The Prompters with the Greek National Opera - a poetic concert conceived and conducted by Alexandros Gkonis and staged by Konstantinos Pittas / KP Office.
More: https://www.bigolive.org/post/prompters-greek-national-opera-2025

Images: Ioanna Liarou, Giannis Antonoglou / GNO

14/10/2025

Οι Υποβολείς έρχονται το Σάββατο 18 και Κυριακή 19/10 στην Εναλλακτική Σκηνή ΕΛΣ / GNO Alternative Stage, σε συμπαραγωγή με την Big Olive. Κλείστε θέση!

🟠 Η πρωτότυπη συναυλία Οι Yποβολείς, σε σύλληψη, ενορχήστρωση και μουσική διεύθυνση του Αλέξανδρου Γκόνη, συνυφαίνει τη μουσική των Φρανσουά Κουπρέν και Κλάουντιο Μοντεβέρντι με την ποίηση του Εουτζένιο Μοντάλε και νέα μουσική του ίδιου του Αλέξανδρου Γκόνη. Ένα αφιέρωμα στη μουσικότητα του λόγου και στην προσωδία της μουσικής, η συναυλία «Οι υποβολείς» έρχεται στην Εναλλακτική Σκηνή της ΕΛΣ στο ΚΠΙΣΝ για δύο μοναδικές βραδιές στις 18 και 19 Οκτωβρίου 2025, σε συμπαραγωγή με την Big Olive.

«Με αυτή τη συναυλία τιμούμε τους ανθρώπους που, με το έργο τους, έχουν φροντίσει για μια αέναη συντροφιά. Τραγουδάμε τη μουσική όπως τη σφυρίζουμε κατεβαίνοντας τη σκάλα, αρθρώνουμε τον λόγο όπως τον μουρμουρίζουμε περπατώντας στον δρόμο και θέλουμε να είμαστε –σ’ αυτή την απαιτητική ανεμελιά– πιστοί», σημειώνει ο Αλέξανδρος Γκόνης.

Την εικαστική επιμέλεια σκηνής υπογράφει ο Κωνσταντίνος Πίττας.
Ερμηνεύουν οι υψίφωνοι Μαριέττα Σαρρή και Ειρήνη Μπιλίνη-Μωραΐτη και η ηθοποιός Κατερίνα Πατσιάνη.
Συμμετέχει κουαρτέτο εγχόρδων: Ρεζάρτα Κρούγια (βιολί Ι), Δημήτρης Κουζής (βιολί ΙΙ), Φαίδων Βρυνιώτης (βιόλα), Σοφία Ευκλείδου (βιολοντσέλο).

📆 18, 19 Οκτωβρίου 2025
⏰ Ώρα έναρξης: 20.30 (Κυριακή: 19.30)
📌 Εναλλακτική Σκηνή Εθνικής Λυρικής Σκηνής – ΚΠΙΣΝ
🎫 Εισιτήρια από 12 ευρώ προπωλούνται από τα Ταμεία της ΕΛΣ (2130885700, καθημερινά 9.00-21.00) και την ticketservices.gr.

👉 https://www.nationalopera.gr/enalaktiki-skini/enalaktiki-skini-synavlies/item/7458-oi-ypovoleis

//

🟠 The original concert "Prompters", conceived, arranged, and conducted by Alexandros Gkonis, blends music by François Couperin and Claudio Monteverdi with Eugenio Montale’s poetry and a new score composed by Alexandros Gkonis himself, in a tribute to the musicality of speech and the prosody of music. A tribute to the musicality of speech and the prosody of music, the concert The Prompters is coming to the Greek National Opera Alternative Stage at the SNFCC for two unique performances on 18 and 19 October 2025, in co-production with Big Olive.

“With this concert, we honour the people who, through their work, have ensured we have an everlasting companion. We sing the music in the same way we whistle it while going down the stairs; we articulate speech in the same way we hum it while walking in the street; and we want to remain faithful to this demanding carefreeness,” notes Alexandros Gkonis.

The set has been visually curated by Konstantinos Pittas.
Performing are the sopranos Marietta Sarri and Irini Bilini-Moraiti, along with actress Katrina Patsiani.
Featuring a string quartet: Rrezarta Krujia (violin Ι), Dimitris Kouzis (violin ΙΙ), Faidon Vryniotis (viola), Sofia Efkleidou (violoncello).

📆 18, 19 October 2025
⏰ Starts at: 20.30 (Sunday: 19.30)
📌 GNO Alternative Stage - SNFCC
🎫 Tickets from €12 are available in advance at the Greek National Opera box office (tel. 2130885700, daily 9:00–21:00) and at ticketservices.gr/en

👉 https://www.nationalopera.gr/en/alternative-stage/es-concerts/item/7494-oi-ypovoleis

Μεγάλος Χορηγός Εθνικής Λυρικής Σκηνής Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera: ΔΕΗ Α.Ε.

Ιδρυτικός Δωρητής Εναλλακτικής Σκηνής / Founding donor of the Alternative Stage: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (ΙΣΝ)[www.SNF.org]

#επικ #ΕναλλακτικήΣκηνήΕΛΣ

  Ιδρυτικός Δωρητής Εναλλακτικής Σκηνής     Μεγάλος Χορηγός Εθνικής Λυρικής Σκηνής   Σε συμπαραγωγή   Υπό την αιγίδα του Ιταλικού Μορφωτικού Ινστιτο....

11/10/2025

Good ol’ Big Olive: Wine and cheese in the lush courtyard of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies, following an Athens itinerary inspired by 19th-century travelers.
With

17/06/2025

AtMokka kafeneio by the central market -where the coffee is strong and opinions stronger - introduced .book Athens to the students of Saint Victoire International School of Provence. What began as a book talk quickly turned into an open exchange on Athens’s cultural rhythms, contradictions, identities and political undercurrents. Moderated with precision by , the conversation was anything but textbook :)