Olive Garden

The official residence of Greece’s Ambassador in India is tastefully accentuated with Greek Art and motifs

- Elizabeth Eapen

A CROWNING FEATURE of the Greek temple front and an architectural element found particularly in classical, neoclassical and baroque architecture, the two pediments on the exterior of a marble fronted building introduce the Embassy of Greece in India to passersby, even before one reaches the main gates. HE Panos Kalogeropoulos, currently Greece’s Ambassador in India, will soon complete three years in this country.

A diplomatic residence by its very definition must both inform and adapt. Inform a visitor of something about the country it represents, and adapt to different residents at different points of time, who bring to their posting in a faraway country some reminders of home as well as their personal memorabilia.

The furniture in the residence was all designed and crafted by Natasha Kohli of the Delhi-based furniture company Filo Pvt Ltd. Natasha recalls working with the then Ambassador Yannis Zepos, who was himself so taken with the Biedermeier style, that he asked Natasha to replicate that in the furniture. This was a style of unostentatious furniture and interior decoration popular especially with the middle class in early 19th century Germany, and characterised by restraint, conventionality and utilitarianism.