Three Albanian cultural centers in comparison under an acoustic perspective.

This article focuses on the assessment of the acoustic characteristics of three cultural centers in Albania—located in Tirana, Durres, and Peshkopi—built during the communist period. Acoustic measurements were conducted following the ISO 3382-1 standard using impulse responses generated by firecrackers, and key parameters such as Early Decay Time (EDT), Reverberation Time (T30), Clarity Index (C80), Definition (D50), and Speech Transmission Index (STI) were analyzed. Despite differences in room volume and architectural features, all three auditoria demonstrated good acoustic conditions suitable for both speech intelligibility and musical performances, with no need for acoustic correction. The study highlights that these cultural centers were designed with effective acoustic considerations even in a historical context when formal acoustic science was not fully integrated into architectural practice.