CTBUH Profile - Alex Vandoros

Alexios Vandoros is a current partner of the Thessaloniki-based architectural firm Vandoros & Partners. As a student and freelance architect, he has participated in two ambitious studies involving high-rise structures: the Thessaloniki Business Center (TBC) and the 2006 Evolo competition, which called for the design of five 450m towers in the Helliniko area of Athens. Neither project transcended their competition phase, due in large measure to current Greek building regulations that prohibit new construction above 27m.

Since January 2008 he has served as the Chief Editor of Greekarchitects.gr, the biggest architectural e-magazine in Greece. The online resource provides direct access to a growing, two-year old architectural, engineering and planning database, and stands out as the only source of relevant information to local designers available in the Greek Language.

Alexios is currently pursuing a Ph. D. degree from the Faculty of Architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His primary focus of study involves the national building regulations that have precluded the realization of skyscrapers in Greece for more than 25 years, which he will explore in depth through his doctoral thesis, “The Prohibition of building High Rise in Greece: Argumentation or an ‘Urban Legend’?”

In Alexios’ own words, “It is an honor and a great responsibility being a country leader for the CTBUH organization in a country in which high rise construction is prohibited. My main goal for the next few years is to spread the aims of the CTBUH and prove to the public opinion of Greece that building high is a (the) solution for every (mega)city of the 21st century and not a disadvantage.”

He often organizes special architectural trips in various destinations around the world. At 2009 he created the group ArchiTeam, which has created the websites ArchiTravel and ArchiCalendar.