Stefano Boeri Architetti has revealed the design of three new innovative schools to be built in Tirana, Albania, that will be open 24 hours a day, everyday of the year, transforming them into essential social centers for residents of all ages.
The three new structures will be integrated into Stefano Boeri Architetti’s competition-winning masterplan for Tirana, positioned within key social nodes of the Albanian capital’s northwest quarter: the neighborhoods of Don Bosco, Kodër-Kamëz and Shqiponja Square. Multiple schools will be housed within each of the three structures, which will also contain meeting and social spaces open and available to the entire community.
“The school must be open to a new rhythm of life,” explains Stefano Boeri. “It must be an active place in all the hours of the day, every day of the year, for everyone, at all ages: grandparents, young people, local associations, creative enterprises, institutions. The open school is the heart of our society, that beats together with the life, that flows in and around it. “
“The new school hosts meetings, discussions, dialogs for associations without head offices. It opens the doors to those seeking a space to start a social and cultural venture. It welcomes book clubs and organizes courses to explore the most intriguing, bizarre and extreme depths of knowledge.”
The new schools will use traditional materials found in Tirana – red brick and white cement – and will cover a total area of 29,609 square meters. The Don Bosco School Complex will house nursery, pre-school, middle school and high school (9,812 square meters); the Kodër-Kamëz School Complex nursery, pre-school, middle school and high school (11,898 square meters); and the Shqiponja School Complex nursery, pre-school education and middle school (7,898 m2).
Project Manager Francesca Cesa Bianchi describes the schools as new “local epicenters” where public life of the area will congregate:
“Our schools will be the true urban squares of the neighborhoods, used by students during school hours, and by the community on weekends and holidays.”
Architects
Location
Tirana, AlbaniaPartner
Stefano BoeriProject Director
Francesca Cesa BianchiProject Leaders
Carlotta Capobianco, Jacopo Colatarci, Julia GocalekTeam
Jona Arkaxhiu, Orjana Balla, Daniele Barillari, Moataz Faisal Farid, Yulia Filatova, Paolo Russo, Mario Shilong Tan, Elisa VersariClient
PPP Agikons Construction Company – Municipality of TiranaPhotographs
Stefano Boeri ArchitettiArchitects
