Italian architect Stefano Boeri's firm Stefano Boeri Architetti has unveiled plans for new three public schools which aim to increase a social value and every-day use in educational institutions in Tirana, Albania - it will possibly be a new educational model that can be applied in other educational designs in other countries.

The firm has recently won a competition for the creation of three new public schools in Tirana. The new school complex, true epicenters of the life of the neighborhood, will be open every day of the year, 24 hours per day and for every age.

Developed within the scope of the Tirana Master Plan, in the north-west quarter of the Albanian capital, in the areas of Don Bosco, Kodër-Kamëz and Shqiponja Square, three innovative architecture dedicated to pre-university education, that conceive the cultural path as an open social venture.

“The school must be open to a new rhythm of life. 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," said Stefano Boeri. 

"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," he added.

Inspired by an innovative vision of the social and cultural function of the education system, the architectural language of the complex takes cues from the tradition of Italian architecture in Tirana. The new schools' facades will be clad with red brick and made of white bases in cement - which is a combination of materials commonly seen in the tradition of Italian architecture in Tirana.

"The three new schools of Tirana will have façades in red brick and white bases in cement (a combination of materials that harkens back to the tradition of Italian architecture in Tirana) and will function as a local epicenter, as a new reference point of the public life of the area. 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," said Francesca Cesa Bianchi, the Project Manager of Stefano Boeri Architetti.

The project of the Schools for Tirana extends over a total surface of 29,609 square meters. It is composed of the Don Bosco School Complex, with nursery, pre-school education, middle school and high school (9,812 square metes), the Kodër-Kamëz School Complex, with nursery, pre-school education, middle school and high school (11,898  square metes), and the Shqiponja School Complex, with nursery, pre-school education and middle school (7,898  square metes).

Project facts

Architect: Stefano Boeri Architetti

Partner: Stefano Boeri

Location: Tirana, Albania

Project Director: Francesca Cesa Bianchi

Project Leader: Carlotta Capobianco, Jacopo Colatarci, Julia Gocalek

Team: Jona Arkaxhiu, Orjana Balla, Daniele Barillari, Moataz Faisal Farid, Yulia Filatova, Paolo Russo,  Mario Shilong Tan, Elisa Versari

Client: PPP Agikons Construction Company – Municipality of Tirana

All images © Stefano Boeri Architetti

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