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Lecture Trip: Visiting the Ancient city of Durrs and the Amphitheater within the framework of Arch 202-Architectural Design II course Project Name: An OPEN-AIR STAGE in DURRES AMPHITHEATER

Students of the second year in Architecture Department had a site trip in the ancient city of Durrs; within the framework of Arch 202-Architectural Design II course, on March 03, 2011. Durrs Amphitheater, a historical monument, was the site in the challenging problem of designing an Open Air (Temporary + Portable) Stage, making thus the context a crucial and determinant factor for the approach and design concept. The Open Air Stages are quite interesting structures concerning not only their function: hosting an event, but their formal appearance as well. The functionality, the volumetric construction and formal expression are strongly related to the program (content) and the site (context) in which the stage(s) are to be established. All these criteria and constrains, combined with the genuine use of material and the application of good engineering details, could make the Open Air Stage, a beautiful Architectural Engineering Art piece. The purpose of this trip was to introduce to the students not only the context of the project site, but to the historical aspect of the Amphitheater and the ancient city of Durrs as well.

Figure 1: Arch 202 -2011 Students & Lecturers (Valbona Koi & Desantila Hysa) in Durrs Amphitheater

Figure 2: Arch 202 Students & Lecturers in Durrs Medieval Tower