THEME
The studio will be about imagining a large public space that is dedicated to the different religions and worldviews of a multicultural society. The project will be at once a master plan, a landscape design, and an architectural project. The intention is to create a park that functions as a new center for public life, for cultural discourse, and for interfaith coexistence.

LOCATION
The context is the Albanian society where different religions coexist since long in a peaceful way, but where religion in general was heavily repressed during the communist era. The project will be situated inside the main park in Tirana. Within this vast green area of around 120 hectares inside the city, students will individually select a precise location of around 10 hectares.

PROGRAM
While the site is vast, the actual built program will be limited. A welcome pavilion, event spaces, specific cult spaces, a small museum, a greenhouse, and restaurants are required. Next to buildings, new nature, symbolic landscaping, gardens, water features, and cultivation surfaces will be added to the existing park. Celebration as well as meditation areas will be incorporated.

TRAVEL
The students will visit Tirana in the last week of February. The trip’s primary purpose is to get acquainted with Albanian culture in general and study the area to select a precise location for individual projects.

CALENDAR
De Geyter will teach at GSD every second week and remotely on alternate weeks. Phillip Denny, Teaching Associate, will be present on these alternate weeks.