A ‘self-managed commune’ next to police headquarters

For thousands of drivers and pedestrians traveling daily on Alexandras Avenue near the Panathinaikos soccer stadium, the view of the refugee apartment blocks has remained largely unchanged for at least 40 years: faded ocher facades, rickety balconies, peeling walls, tattered curtains, scattered satellite dishes and political and soccer slogans. Few notice the four black, neatly arranged banners on the only apartment building (out of eight) facing the avenue.

However, behind the worn facade facing Alexandras Avenue lies the largest public property occupation in the city center. Situated between the Hellenic Police Headquarters (GADA) and the Supreme Court, this occupation has thrived for years. Members of the "neighborhood" SYKAPRO (Assembly of Occupied Refugee Buildings), as they call their self-managed "experiment," will greet anyone who ventures behind the modernist...