(b Thessaloniki, Greece, 11 April 1908; d Tiranë, 20 April 1976). Albanian architect. He graduated from the Technische Hochschule, Graz, in 1936, returning to Albania in the same year and being appointed to the Ministry of Public Works in Tiranë. In his first projects he experimented with the integration of modern European architecture and the traditional architecture of Albanian cities. An example is the secondary school (1938), Gjirokastër, which combines Functionalist elements with the vernacular style of the city (see ALBANIA, §II). Luarasi’s other works, such as the hospital (1947), Gjirokastër, the sanatorium (1957), Tiranë, and the tourist hotels at Durrës (1960) and Gjirokastër (1962), are characterized by concentration on the functional aspect, by a majestic appearance despite the modest means and by their harmonization with the historical environment. Working in the State Designing Institute (after 1965) Luarasi designed several hospitals, such as those at Sarandë (1967), Kukës (1968), Corovodë (1969), and the Hospital for Infectious Diseases (1967) and the General Hospital (1969), both in Tiranë. These buildings are examples of further experiments in improving functional aspects, economical use of resources and a tradition-based aesthetic, and they are also among those that laid the basis of a 20th-century tradition of architecture in Albania.