Travelling with Architect Erik Hansen: A Cypress on the Peloponnese

Abstract

This reflective article starts with a personal anecdote, a journey together with Erik Hansen on the Peloponnese to visit an old cypress. He describes Hansen’s empathetic working method, which leads to a better understanding of the whole construction process of the temple. An essential part was the building of an evenly ascending slipway on the steep hillside, which could comply with the limits of the tractive force and the load put on the constructed track by the transport of the building blocks and wooden beams. This slipway was used to transport around 2,000 building blocks with a total volume of more than 3,000 m3. The total dragging operation included over 8,000 tons of blue-grey limestone.