Overview of the Italian architecture in Durres from 1920 to 1944

Loreta Capeli, Meri Priftuli Semini, Florian Nepravishta

Abstract: Durrs is an Albanian coastal city. During the period from 1920 to 1943, Italian architects examined his urban plans and proposed new ones. The architectural heritage of Italian style and its monumental structures built during the 30 s in Albania possess precious architectonic and cultural elements that must be preserved and promoted and to achieve that, we may start by first identifying and presenting them to the wider community of interested professionals. This study identifies these buildings, their location in the city and focuses on the small structures with residential function, highlighting their architectural qualities. Through the study cases on the villa typology the aim is to explain and know the morphology, compositional and stylistic characteristics. Concluding, it has been understood that Durrs city encloses inside its structure a lot of architectonic value that, as an inherited richness must be protected, restored, and evaluated, prior to being damaged from lack of attention. Also, the data of this study will serve for future restoration interventions in order to help the revaluation of the architectonic and urban landscape.

Keywords: Heritage, Italian architecture, Residential, Durrs