Voices from Two Historical Identities Dwelling as a Matter of Being

Abstract

The following paragraphs are based on my personal experience of study and life between Italy and Albania and are going to 'use' the history of architecture in two different contexts: the first one is the physical context of the city. Historical architecture is a 'natural' presence in most of Italian cities. People's activities are very often conducted inside of buildings constructed five (or more) centuries ago. While in Albania the situation is very different. Historical architecture has a different weight and importance, and as a consequence a different impact in people's lives. This leads to the second context: history of architecture as knowledge, as an object of study in architecture schools. Some of the main questions are: what is the real use of studying history of architecture (starting from Greek architecture and crossing the following centuries until the contemporary times) in Albania? Is it possible to use DIRECTLY historical knowledge in contemporary design?