ABSTRACT
The identifi cation of Minoan infl uences in contemporary architecture in Greece has so far been restricted to traces of Minoan decorative motifs, which, moreover, seem to have played a rather insignifi cant role in recent developments. 1 This is not surprising, mainly for two reasons: (a) Minoan art has generally been considered as merely ‘decorative’, hence a minor art or even an art fi t only for decorative usage; and (b) Minoan art has only hesitantly been accepted by some as ‘Greek’ in character, and therefore has been deemed unfi t to serve as a symbol of national identity and integrity, in the way in which Neo-Classicism had previously functioned in architecture for over a century.
