Panos Koulermos (Architectural Monographs No 35)

Panos Koulermos was born in Cyprus and received his architectural training in London and Milan. In 1965 he worked in partnership with Nikos Kalogeras and Spiros Amourgis in Athens. He is a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece, the RIBA in Great Britain and the AIA in the United States. Since 1973 he has been Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California. This text portrays the achievement of Professor Koulermos and investigates his work which tends towards a formal expression which is regular and geometric, rooted in the classical Mediterranean tradition and its connections with nature. It also shows the fusion of forms "that evoke the memory of Greco-Venetian culture", attempting to fuse "Hellenic and Venetian cultural imagery". Koulermos's work bridges two cultures: the empirical tradition of Anglo-Saxon Brutalism on the one hand and Italian Rationalism on the other. The more whimsical aspects of his architecture are also explored, as well as his frequent involvement and use of nature.