The district inside the walls, the Kala, has maintained over the centuries all the features typical of a fortified settlement and the buildings have not changed over time their special typological design. The overall integrity is satisfactory, although this was adversely affected by illegal constructions in the late 1990s. Authenticity is also satisfactory, but preservation management must be stepped up and carefully enforced, in accordance with the highest international standards. In Berat there are around 13 hotel and guest houses for a total of 154 rooms, with a total of 500.000 visitors every year. However, the district of Kala is unable to provide the necessary facilities to welcome an important tourist flow. The present study shows a lack of accommodation structures, restaurants and commercial services supporting the visitors. The phenomenon of depopulation is leading to the consequent abandonment of housing by the local population that prefers to live in the lower city, with all the amenities that modern life requires. The vernacular buildings, which have not been object to major changes, thus maintaining a uniform character, however have some interventions, in particular addition of plants externally visible, that disturb the historic character. The project involves the study of the re-adaptation the existing abandoned houses to accommodate rooms and apartments for the spread hotel, conserving the internal layout of the original homes, the function of the rooms, preserving the building techniques and recognizable pieces of furniture also to maintain the lifestyle of the population living there or who lived there in perfect line with the idea of the spread hotel. This research identified unused buildings in the citadel and the houses that are now used as accommodation rooms and organised an unified system. Along the main street of the Kala, near the entrance, the project individualises an area characterized by the presence of the ruins of an old vernacular Ottoman house in which it’s possible to see a wall with the traces of chimneys and archs. In this area the project proposes the reception of the spread hotel, the lounge area, an eno-gastronomic space for tasting and buying typical local products with the antenna of the relative thematic, where it can be exposed panels explaining the traditional recipes in order to promote the interest related to food, traditions, culture, identity, local way of life respectful of local traditions, to promote a new food model that respects the environment, able to bring consumers to the world of production, creating a virtual network of international relations and a greater sharing of knowledge between the local population and the visitors.
The entrance of the reception
© Dunia Giacosa . Published on September 19, 2013.
The ruins
© Dunia Giacosa . Published on September 19, 2013.
© Dunia Giacosa . Published on September 19, 2013.
© Dunia Giacosa . Published on September 19, 2013.