HOUSING SOLUTIONS FOR THE POST-PANDEMIC CITY: THE CASE OF LEZHA (ALBANIA)

This article is part of studies on the theory of architecture and deals with the issues of the formal structure of housing in the period of the post-pandemic city. For more than three years, we have been globally in a period of multiple changes and transformations that affect the various spheres of human activity, which directly affect the organization of the formal structure of housing. The research gap that this investigation seeks to contribute to is related to the rigidity presented by the formal structure of housing at the moment in which the global lockdown was presented, as well as the needs presented to adapt the representation of housing to the new activities imposed by this transformative period. The main research question related to this study is interested to investigate how the multi-dimensional transformations that society has gone through in the last three years, have affected the formal structure of the existing housing and what could be the future housing schemes based on these needs. The purpose of this paper is to research these changes in the formal structure of housing, due to the specific conditions of the post-pandemic city and to propose spatial solutions that match the needs of the current society. The final objective is the proposal of innovative schemes for the organization of the living space on two different levels. The first level refers to the re-organization of the spaces of the formal structure of the existing evidenced typologies, under the new social needs generated by the major transformations, while the second level is related to the proposal of innovative schemes for the construction of new housing. The methodology conducted during this study is based on the analysis of the consequent alterations of society during the pandemic and post-pandemic context, while emphasizing and understanding the impact they have had directly on housing. The specific case where the article is focused on investigating the relationship of the formal structure of housing with the city is positioned in the city of Lezha in Northern Western Albania where new functional and distributional schemes can be generated and serve as proper solutions in the actual context. The expected results are a series of functional schemes and spatial models for housing, able to replenish the needs and requests that people have about the new formal housing structures and space, within the conditions of the post-pandemic period. This study represents an interest and concrete usefulness, firstly for the academic community which are grasping the understanding of the changing society within their expertise, researchers, designers, and investors.