Stadium architect Marco Casamonti, proud of the National Arena

“None of us expected the extraordinary success of this stadium in the world and in Europe. I must say with a little pride that the success of an Albanian enterprise, because it was built by an Albanian company, the success of the idea of ​​the government to leave the stadium in the city center and of course a little pride of a Florentine architect who worked on the project of a another Florentine architect like Gerardo Bosio, who is the architect who started the stadium project in the ’40s, ”said Marco Casamonti.

But does the stadium have a special significance compared to other projects that an architect had to do.

“We do a lot of projects around the world, big projects, but a stadium is a very important project because it is where the community gets together. Where people have fun and celebrate. This is a great pride, and Ermal Meta’s concert took place, which means that it is a stadium that also functions for concerts.

Every time I come to Tirana I can not do without going to the stadium. Even if I come for other reasons I will stop and visit. Because it is a work that represents a difficult but beautiful period of my life. “I always come back here with pleasure,” said Marco Casamonti

The origin of the stadium should be sought in August 1939, a few months after the invasion of Albania by Italy, when the then Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano laid the foundation stone. The construction of the national stadium was completed in 1946, when the country had entered the long period of communism.

Many decades have passed since then and Marco Casamonti left his mark in this part of Tirana.

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