The Creation of Modern Athens: Planning the Myth is the first book to examine the urban development of Athens in the nineteenth century. Analyzing the process of architectural and urban design, Eleni Bastea reveals the multiple and often conflicting interpretations of the new city. By following two parallel processes--the building of the new capital and the construction of a new national Greek identity--Bastea demonstrates that Athens' elaborate urban design and civic architecture reflected both international neoclassical ideals as well as the national aspirations of the modern Greek nation.

Using the analytical perspectives of architecture, comparative literature, and cultural studies, the essays in the book examine the role of memory in the creation of our built environment. Part I examines the ways institutions and individuals construct national memory. Eric Sandweiss discusses American urban history museums; Mark Jarzombek addresses the reconstruction of Dresden, Germany; Fernando Lara contrasts Brazilian modern architecture to earlier European modernism; and Maria de Lourdes Luz and Ana Lucia Santos look at Brazilian history through the prism of the coffee plantation system....