Exploring the dialectic between permanence and change. The case of Epidamn Bulevard in Durrës

Durrës has always been considered an important city both in the region and beyond, with a stra- tegic position, as a transit or exchange gate, but also an interesting place to stay and live. The strategic position, natural but also historical, cultural and archaeological values have always given Durrës the potential to develop in the above-mentioned aspects, but also the potential to influence the development of other countries, which create relations with this city, so and the relationship with Italy has undoubtedly been mutual throughout history. Today’s “Epidamn” boulevard is a result of the interventions in the urban area of Durrës during the period of the Italian occupation at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the axis where Epidamn Boulevard is located today is also present in the earliest maps, or even in pictures from the beginning of the 20th century. This paper investigates the organizational ability of the Boulevard element to influence the mor- phology of the city of Durrës. This ability will be analyzed through a philological reading of the space of this axis, emphasizing the transformations over time and the permanence and change of architectural elements in different periods. This dialectic of permanence and growth as explored by Rossi, implies a city which not only possesses a before and an after, but which is defined by their interrelationship. The expected results are a series of diagrams that read the stability and trans- formations of this morphological axis in relation to the urban form of the city of Durrës. These diagrams will serve to raise the awareness on the form-creating abilities that the compositional element of the axis has in relation to the urban form.