http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/1 2026-06-12T23:09:59Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2730 VIA APPIA AS ARIADNE’S THREAD: LINKING LANDSCAPE, COMMUNITY, MEMORY, AND DESIGN Rotondo, Francesco; Campo, Angelo In 2024 via Appia, the ancient Roman road connecting Rome to Brindisi, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Historical research indicates that the Municipality of Carosino (Taranto, Southern Italy) encompasses a section of this ancient route. Within the Preliminary Programming Document (DPP) for the new General Urban Plan (PUG), drafted between 2021 and 2022, via Appia had a crucial role in defining an alternative model of self-sustained local development. This model aligns with the Regional Territorial Landscape Plan of Puglia (PPTR, 2015), which promotes the acknowledgement of territorial heritage as a fundamental tool for landscape protection and its enhancement. The aim of the document was to come up with innovative planning strategies based on two identity elements: the historical presence of via Appia and the local viticultural vocation. This experimental process prioritized participatory planning, embracing the active role of inhabitants in constructing the "sense of place" as a founding principle. The landscape is seen as a dynamic system of relationships and as an identity-based heritage in constant transformation. The project put via Appia as a symbolic and infrastructural key element- a common thread linking historical memory with contemporary design - while testing participatory tools based on active listening and the co- production of shared territorial visions. Carosino, part of "Albania Tarentina," owns a cohesive social fabric and widespread community activism, creating a "laboratory of complexity" where implicit participatory culture becomes a strategic resource. As a consequence, via Appia has the role of an identity-driven topos and of an infrastructural device interconnecting places, memories, and communities. It becomes an "Ariadne’s thread" leading territorial regeneration rooted in identity, landscape, and shared vision. 2026-04-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2729 USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN (UXD) IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A MULTI-SCALE HUMAN-CENTRIC DESIGN STRATEGY OPTIMIZING UNEQUAL SPATIAL DESIGN FOR QUALITY OF LIFE Khalid ElDamhiry, Khloud; Karam Toama, Mai In the contemporary landscape of Higher Education (HE), the physical environment serves as a critical determinant of pedagogical efficacy and stakeholder Quality of Life (QoL). This research addresses the persistent phenomenon of "Unequal Spatial Design," where environments fail to provide equitable affordances for diverse users across the three pillars: Micro, Meso, and Macro spatial scales. To rectify this, the study proposes and validates a novel Multi-Scale User Experience (UX) Framework Model, which systematically integrates UX design principles across three distinct spatial scales: Micro (Interior Design), Meso (Architecture Design), and Macro (Urban Design). Utilizing a Human-Centric Design (HCD) approach, the framework is designed to optimize campus environments to enhance QoL. The methodology adopts a mixed-methods, multi-scalar approach to evaluate the Campus User Experience, structured to capture both subjective perceptions and objective spatial behaviors. This process included four phases: the Theoretical Phase, where an extensive literature review established the definitions of UX and HCD in the built environment, focusing on the convergence of digital UX and physical Experience; the Empirical Case Study, which utilized Heriot-Watt University in Dubai as the primary site of investigation; Spatial Heat Mapping, which involved using observational data to track occupancy density and social friction nodes and included a visualization of the student's chronological path from the Micro through the Meso to the Macro scale to pinpoint emotional peaks and valleys; and finally, Framework Synthesis, where data from the case study was synthesized into the Multi-Scale UX Framework Model to demonstrate how synchronized interventions can rectify spatial inequality. The findings demonstrate that a synchronized multi-scalar strategy effectively mitigates spatial inequality, fosters institutional belonging, and significantly improves the holistic educational experience, ultimately affirming that enhancing QoL in HE is inextricably linked to the provision of equitable affordances. 2026-04-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2728 URBAN TRANSFORMATION OF A SOCIALIST SILICA BRICK MULTIFAMILY HOUSING NEIGHBOURHOOD IN POST-SOCIALIST TIRANA Manahasa, Edmond; Palla, Ermela This research focuses on the urban transformation of a socialist period silica-brick multifamily housing in Tirana. The selected case study is a neighbourhood called “Blloku Partizani”, which is located along “Muhamet Gjollesha” Street and was constructed in the 1970s. The research aims to document the urban transformation of the built environments of the “Blloku Partizani” neighbourhood, including both housing blocks and outdoor spaces. The methodology used for this research consists of archival data collection, plan redrawing, mapping and visual analysis of the changes/modifications realized during the post-socialist period. The study measures the transformation of the neighbourhood by examining its housing blocks and common outdoor spaces. The transformation of the housing blocks is observed into two forms: formal/informal additions to the existing blocks and the construction of the new, taller apartment blocks. As for the outdoor common spaces, there is an observed reduction in green spaces, which is caused by the construction of new buildings at the expense of the common public spaces, the transformation of the ground floors into commercial activities and the increasing car parking spaces at the expense of public spaces. 2026-04-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2727 URBAN EQUILIBRIUM Uruci, Klea; Merxhani, Kreshnik This paper reconsiders the House+ project in the historic centre of Pogradec as an inquiry into urban equilibrium: how a contemporary intervention can re-energize a fragile historic fabric without becoming an object of contrast or spectacle. Rather than treating heritage as a fixed image to be copied, the project understands continuity as a balance between memory, daily life, spatial rhythm, and new cultural use. Drawing on Gustavo Giovannoni’s concepts of diradamento, innesto, and ambientismo, and informed by Herzog & de Meuron’s idea of a house that seems as if it had always been there, the paper frames design as a search for equilibrium across scales from the room and courtyard to the street, the block, and the city. Through a hybrid program combining dwelling, atelier, archive, and underground exhibition spaces dedicated to Misto Cici, the project proposes a modest but contemporary urban infill that restores attention, access, and cultural continuity within the historic centre. 2026-04-01T00:00:00Z