Forum A+P Vol.30
Call for Papers for Forum A+P Nr.30
Recurring Novelties
Architecture is never entirely new, nor is it ever simply a repetition of what came before. It emerges through a continuous process of reinterpretation, adaptation and transformation, where familiar forms, ideas, materials and spatial practices acquire new meanings in changing contexts.
A+P Forum 30 invites architects, urbanists, researchers, academics, artists, designers and students to explore the concept of “Reoccurring Novelties” through critical reflection, research and creative practice.
The theme investigates the paradox between recurrence and novelty: the ways in which architectural ideas, urban patterns, typologies and cultural references return, evolve and generate new possibilities. It questions whether innovation necessarily requires the invention of something entirely unprecedented, or whether the new can emerge through the reconsideration of existing conditions.
In this context, repetition is not understood as mere reproduction, but as a productive process capable of generating difference. What returns is never exactly the same; it is reshaped by time, context, technology, social conditions and collective memory.
Introduction from the Editors
LEDIAN BREGASI
POLIS University
SONIA JOJIC
POLIS University
As we examine the current trajectory of the architectural discipline, it is clear that we stand at an unprecedented inflection point
as artificial intelligence transitions from a speculative technological frontier into an active cognitive infrastructure. In introducing
this volume of FORUM A+P (Volume 30, January 2025), we articulate a profound shift in how designers conceptualize space,
agency, and materiality. Architecture, as we observe, is no longer merely assisted by digital drafting programs or Building Information Modeling protocols; rather, it is being fundamentally reshaped through an ongoing synthesis with non-human intelligence. Our editorial synthesis explores how generative computational workflows, machine learning algorithms, and advanced digital fabrication techniques converge to reframe design theory and practice. Far from replacing human authorship, we view artificial intelligence as a catalyst for expanding architectural imagination, optimizing environmental performance, and interrogating the socio-spatial complexities of contemporary urban environments. By situating technological innovation alongside material traditions and heritage preservation, we frame a holistic paradigm where technology serves as a bridge between theoretical inquiry and practical execution. At the core of our computational inquiry in this volume is the acknowledgment that artificial intelligence introduces novel forms of non-human agency into the design process. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), diffusion models, and advanced text-to-image synthesis engines operate beyond traditional linear problem-solving. These systems process vast datasets of historical precedence, structural typologies, and spatial configurations, extracting latent visual patterns and generating complex architectural iterations in seconds. Consequently, as we observe in contemporary practice, the creative workflow shifts from manual drafting to an iterative dialogue of prompt engineering, latent space navigation, and critical selection. This epistemological shift challenges historical definitions of authorship and aesthetic judgment. When machine learning algorithms synthesize stylistic attributes across centuries of built environments, the resulting imagery presents a speculative vernacular— an architecture that feels simultaneously familiar and unprecedented. We challenge designers to develop critical frameworks capable of evaluating these synthetic outputs, distinguishing superficial stylistic mimicry from deep structural and spatial intelligence. The interplay of human intuition and algorithmic synthesis thus establishes a new hybrid methodology for spatial ideation....
Editorial
AI Convergence: Exploring the Interplay of Technology, Architecture, and Design
LEDIAN BREGASI, SONIA JOJIC
Workshop Reports
Photography and Architecture_A Man Altered Landscape
SONIA JOJIC, KETI HOXHA, ARJOLA SAVA, KEJSI VESELAGU
Showroom Concept for Innovative Interior Spaces
KRISTIANA MEÇO, DORINA XHERIMEJA
Exploring the Historic Architecture of Sacred Spaces. Gathering Constants and Similarities
EMEL PETERCI, FLAVIO CYCI
Facade technology as the main cover of the building
MERITA GURI, ILDA RUSI, ALBI ALLIAJ, ERJON ÇOBANI, ENVAL XHOXHI , ENXHI CERPIA
Laboratory of Tirana
FULVIO PAPADHOPULLI, MEGI TAFAJ, JIRI VITEK
Rethinking Vernacular Architecture in a Contemporary Context
GENTI AVDIJA, MARSELA PLYKU DEMAJ, BRIXHITA DEDA, ALESSANDRO MASONI,
Machine Learning for Energy Efficiency Prediction
ANDIA VLLAMASI, EMILIANO MANKOLLI, KLEJDA HALLAÇI, ERILDA MUKA, DHURATA SHEHU
Ancient Sculpture Art through the use of Clay
KUJTIM HALILI, DORINA XHERIMEJA
Flows Study
NEVIS ISAJ, JUNYUAN CHEN
Prototyping the Sustainability of Urban Form
SKENDER LUARASI , LLAZAR KUMARAKU
New Trends in Data Modeling Systems
SONILA MURATAJ, MELISA TUFA
Invited Papers
Mural: The Contestation of Urban Space
REMIJON PRONJA
From Static Envelope to Adaptive Skins Reoccurring novelties in façade education, industry and kinetic
ERJON ÇOBANI
Scientific Research Papers
Urban Environmental Noise in Tirana: Spatial and Temporal Patterns from Field Measurements at Three Major Traffic Junctions
ELONA KARAFILI, FLORA KRASNIQI
The Emancipation of Form nd Plastic Humanism: The Artistic Legacy of Thoma Thomai (Dhamo) in Albanian Sculpture
KUJTIM HALILI
Influence of Video in Shaping the Perception of the Albanian
REMIJON PRONJA
Restoration of Modern Architecture. The Case of the Modern Villas in Tirana, 1925-1945
KRISTIANA MECO
Governance by design. Rethinking urban morphologies through AI simulation
ANDIA VLLAMASI, ERJON ÇOBANI, SONILA MURATAJ
Digital Stereotomy as Paradigm Shift: Revisiting Theory, Geometry and Construction
KEJSI VESELAGU, LLAZAR KUMARAKU, KLEA MACI, NATALI TAKO, PAOLA HYSO
Tirana between spontaneity and design:Recurring urban elements in the development of a city in search of 98 identity.
GENTI AVDIJA
Telqel Architecture
Reoccurring Novelties: Architecture Between the Promise of the New and the Repetition of the Familiar
LEDIAN BREGASI
Book Reviews
The impact of building materials in inhabitance lifestyle
KRISTIANA MEÇO
Drawings
“Incremental” — Photograph Sonia Jojiç 2024
SONIA JOJIC
