Loris Rossi

Manchester School of Architecture · Architecture BA

Gjirokastra. Between the "UNESCO City" status and the phenomenon of "Shrinking Cities". Gjirokastra is one of the most beloved cities in Albania and beyond in the region. The city with extraordinary historical values, and with unique traditions and landscape, is rightly included in the UNESCO list. Gjirokastra has always been, and continues to b...

The turn of the 21st century has been marked by dramatic changes in the political, social and environmental panorama, which are deeply affecting the way we live today: terrorism, migration and global warming are certainly the most pressing issues, and they are putting at risk our very life on this planet. So far we have come to acknowledge that we...

Right after the local elections of 2015 in Albania, I (Besnik Aliaj) was invited in a meeting and training event with the newly elected municipal councilors and administrators of the Region of Gjirokastra, Albania, organized by the German foundation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. During the meeting I was drawn by the remarks of Mr. Mihal Mano, the recen...

I belong to the generation of Albanians born and raised in Albania during the years of self-isolation and extreme centralized economy. Kosova has been always a very popular theme among us, not only because of what we heard in the media, in schools, or what we read in books of history and ideology, but it was highly attractive for the fact that it w...

This new publication of the Observatory of the Mediterranean Basin (OMB) tries to build on the previous investigations related to water issues, but shifting the focus from the Albanian Riviera to the river basin. The choice of title for this volume intends to convey importance to the idea of the river as a connection between land and sea. “When the...

Tourism often acquires a negative meaning, due to the numerous bad practices spread worldwide. Tourism is in fact commonly rated as one of the main causes of land exploitation, landscape consumption and local identity loss. This is also the case of Adriatic-Ionian region where the coastline is seriously damaged by touristic structures built in the...

The turn of the 21st century has been marked by dramatic changes in the political, social and environmental panorama, which are deeply affecting the way we live today: terrorism, migration and global warming are certainly the most pressing issues, and they are putting at risk our very life on this planet. So far we have come to acknowledge that we...

Albania with strong impact also in Montenegro and Kosova. The city has a great history and culture, and was consider a stronghold of anticommunist resistance between 1945-1990. Since than it went towards a turbulent transition during 90-s and a significant transformation in the last 10-15 years. Nowadays Shkodra is one of 3-4 main cultural-touristi...

The Albanian landscape is fractured into paradoxical parts. These fragments are palatable to the eye during the drive from the city of Shkodër to the Adriatic coast along Rruga Shkodër-Velipojë. As one leaves the dense urban environment of Shkodër and crosses the confluence of the Drin and Bojana River the landscape opens up to a vast horizontal pl...

The essay investigates coastline development along the southern area of the Albanian Riviera, introducing the concepts of “landscape fragments” and “landscape within a landscape” as design methodologies. By speculatively reversing the order of landscape perception from land to water, the coastline becomes a flexible device capable of responding to...

The objective of this unit is the creation of a new research dedicated to the Observatory of the Mediterranean Basin (OMB), a possible niche in the market and within the focus of the Department of Applied Research at POLIS University. Starting from the Balkan regions, the interest will be extended to all the cities that overlook the Mediterranean....

POLIS University publishes the “Forum A+P” – Interdisciplinary Journal of Architecture and Scientific Environment”, the only scientific and cultural magazine in the Albanian –speaking countries on the fields of architecture and territory planning. This magazine is recognized by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Academic Degrees Evaluation...

POLIS University publishes the “Forum A+P” – Interdisciplinary Journal of Architecture and Scientific Environment”, the only scientific and cultural magazine in the Albanian –speaking countries on the fields of architecture and territory planning. This magazine is recognized by the Ministry of Education and Science, the Academic Degrees Evaluation...

Background: Between 1945-1990, Albania experienced one of the harshest authoritarian regimes of the Cold War period, and was considered the “Northern Korea” of Eastern Europe. The country prohibited any form of organized religion, private initiative, and freedom of movement. No foreigners could enter the country, practically. Indeed it was consider...