The chancery building in Athens was designed by famed Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius with consulting architect Pericles A. Sakellarios. It was constructed between 1959 and 1961 and is a protected architectural landmark. Gropius' famous design was in the characteristic simple Bauhaus form, inspired by the architecture of the Parthenon.[2][3]
In 2003, the U.S. Embassy and the Athens Municipality celebrated the addition of a welcoming green space, the Makedonon Street Park. The landscaping of this pedestrian walkway was prompted by heightened security requirements.[2]
A 2007 expansion added an office building, parking garage, compound entrances, fuel station, Marine Corps Security Guard quarters, swimming pool, and basketball court. The design of the new office building is intended to integrate well with the chancery, as well as with the adjacent Megaron Mousikis (Athens Concert Hall). The new office building enabled the embassy to bring onto the compound employees who have been working in leased space for many years.
The office building is 5,026 square metres (54,100 sq ft) and includes office space for over 150 people.
In September 2018, the embassy began a multi-year renovation that will provide additional office space and upgrade electrical and mechanical systems. The work is expected to cost $342 million and take four years to complete. Many of the components date to the building's construction in 1961.[4]
A minor terrorist attack occurred in the early morning of January 12, 2007. No casualties were reported.[6][7] A rocket-propelled grenadeWasp 58 was fired into the embassy's modern, glass-fronted building.[8] The Greek public order minister, Byron Polydoras, said an anonymous phone call claiming to be from the left-wing terror group Revolutionary Struggle had taken responsibility.[9] On January 25, 2007, Revolutionary Struggle announced in local news outlets they took responsibility for the attack.[10][11] On March 20, the Government of Greece and the United States Rewards for Justice Program announced equal, parallel rewards for information leading to the perpetrators – Greece offering 800,000 Euros and the US "up to $1 million or more".[12]
The embassy was previously attacked by the Marxist Revolutionary Organization 17 November group on February 15, 1996, when an anti-tank missile hit the embassy's parking lot wall.[13]
‡ Missions which are located in countries or cities that may be considered a part of more than one continent
1 Consulates-General which function as an embassy (ie. consul reports to State Department, not the respective country's ambassador)
2 The American Institute in Taiwan is ostensibly a public, non-profit organization to promote US-Taiwanese relations, but through State Department staffing & assistance, functions as an informal US diplomatic mission.
