This paper conceptualises Greek national pavilions at World Trade Fairs and International Expos as rhetorical acts – that is, as spatialised regimes of representation that operate as visual arguments promoting Greece’s modernisation and tourism development on an international stage. Greece’s participations consistently framed the modern Greek state as the heir of classical antiquity, consolidating a teleological narrative of historical continuity and progress. By the interwar period, Greek pavilion design articulated a more complex semiotic assemblage, in which classical heritage was reconfigured, alongside Byzantine and folkloric elements, as exportable signifiers of national identity. This curatorial strategy was aligned with, and actively supported, emergent tourism policies. Focusing on the work of Greek architects Alexandra Paschalidou-Moreti and Dimitris Moretis this study draws on rare archival materials to analyse and reinterpret Greek pavilion design as a form of spatial-rhetorical practice and cultural translation. It argues that national pavilions should be understood not merely as stylistic or ideological artefacts shaped by shifting political contexts, but rather as structured mediatory forms that translate historical cultural temporalities into coherent and consumable narratives of national identity. In this sense, pavilion architecture emerges as a key instrument in the articulation of Greece’s modern nation-branding strategies, simultaneously shaping tourist imaginaries.
Emilia Athanassiou (Wed,) studied this question.