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Antigonea

Ancient Walls of Bylis, 3rd

century BC

2.12.ARCHITECTURE and Urban DevelopmentThe architectural heritage of Albania, so

ancient in origin and so varying in forms overthe centuries, represents an important patrimonyof the Albanian people.

The early stage of architecture is notedby the prehistoric dwellings (coastal dwelling,pre 5th century B.C.) discovered in Dunavec be-longing to the medium neolithic period and inMaliq belonging to the late neolithic period.These houses were constructed upon a woodfloor, and rested upon stakes driven verticallyinto the ground. The prehistoric dwellings areclassified into three groups: 1-Houses totallyinserted in the ground (in Cakran); 2-Houses half-inserted in the ground(in Cakran); 3-Houses, on the ground, with one alcove.

The fortified centres seemed to have anarchitectonical unity, both in terms of land location andin the planimetry solutions. Changing roles from pre-urban shelters into real urban centres, these fortifica-tions developed their architectural shapes and solu-tions as well as construction techniques. These con-structions represent the beginning of antique fortifica-tions.

5th Century B.C. Architecture and urban plan-ing of this period was based on Hellenic achievements,although linked strongly to Illyrian reality as the citiesof Dyrrachium and Apollonia passed through pros-perous periods. Apart from these two colonial cities,there were also a number of towns in Southern Illyria such as Bylis,Amantia, Dimal, Albanopoli, Lisi and so on. These places were con-structed on the top of the hills and were surrounded by high wallsusing construction techniques taking into consid-eration the form of the blocs (stone bricks), andthe presence of ports and defensive towers withsquare and round shapes. These fortifications havemany common elements of defence (towers, en-trances), which were developed in different waysdepending on location in terms of planimetry,shapes and land location. The masonry was per-formed by applying simple stone blocks, carvedand pre-fabricated elements.

The urban planing of the cities differed fromone another in terms of the position of the acropo-lis, the trade and social centres according to thetopography.

Buleuterion (Agonothetes’temple), Apollonia, 2nd

century AD

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Bath house system planlayout in Butrint

Layout plan ofBylis

Urban planing of these ancient cities shows for an ordered andmodern road network within both the later centres like Antigonea andthe ancient ones like Apollonia and Orikum. This indicates an ad-vanced town-planing strategy that coincides with the beginnings ofthe normative and regular town-planing of the Roman empire.

Although the acropolis in Buthrot(Butrint) is placed in the middle of thecity, the sloping hillside has created adifferent scheme. The centre of the citywas built up in the area between the hilland the surrounding wall, while in thenorthern and eastern parts of the hill-side, the houses were placed. The mainmonuments of the city centre are theboulevard, the theatre and the temples,among others.

In some cities like Dyrrah(Durres) and Aulona (Vlora),the acropo-lis was built outside the city. This is thereason many historians and archeolo-gists refer to the acropolis as “up-town”

and the city, “down-town”. Apolloniaand Antigonea have orthogonal sys-tems of roads, based on Hipodam,while Bylis and Dymal have longitudal

systems of roads. In Antigonea, three areas were discovered in whichthe main roads cross each other at right angles to make insulas(parcela) of 50m in length.

The most advanced dwelling from this period was found inApollonia. The main area of the house is the open courtyard calledperistil, surrounded by a covered hall. Regarding the interior design,in contrast to other dwellings of Apollonia and Dyrrah where the flooris decorated with mosaics, the floor of the advanced dwelling wasdone using marble stones or baked clay tiles. In one of the Dyrrahhouses, a well preserved mosaic called “The beauty of Dyrrah” was

discovered. Belonging tothe 4th-3rd century B.C, thismosaic is among the mostartistic and expressive inthe world and can be seentoday in the National His-toricy Museum in Tirana.

Social Buildingsare the considered to bethe most important indica-tors of the level of the ar-chitecture of antiquity.

Column in Apollonia

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Plan layout of Baptistryin Butrint

Odeon in Apollonia

The most ancient temples in Albania are the Artemis inApollonia, and the temple of Asklep in Buthrot. Both of these templesare situated in dominant places, and play an important role in theurban planning of the city, however, there are other cases wheretemples were built outside the cities as well. There are two commontypes of temples, the first type with portico and 4-6 columns on thenarrow side and the second type with columns in the front.

The boulevards were important parts of theurban planning of cities. They are distinguished fortheir construction and architectural style and arehad covered galleries with columns alongside theopen gardens to provide gathering spaces for tradeand lectures on rainy or sunny days, as well ascovered walking spaces. The most notable boule-vards were discovered in Apollonia, Buthrot andBylis.

Like the boulevards, the main theatres of thisperiod were those in Apollonia, Buthrot and Bylis.They have a common way of building stairs in asemicircle shape, placed on the steep hillside orconstructively adapted. The difference between themdepended on spectator capacity (size) or the eco-nomic power of the city (elegance). The largest theatre of this timewas the theatre in Apollonia. Archeologists have discovered parts ofstage, fronted with doric columns with triglyphs. The theatre of Butrintis also very well preserved, with a capacity of 1,500 people and iswell situated between the rock of acropolis and the surrounding wall.The smallest theatre was discovered in Nikae, and had a capacity of1,000 people.

During the 3rd-2nd century B.C, sports wererapidly developed and monumental constructionsuch as the stadium of Amantia was constructed.This stadium is typical of the antique period, witha runway of 184.8m in length and 12.25m in width.The stadium is well preserved and on one side ofthe stadium one can see 17 rows of stairs and 8rows on the other side, constructed with limestoneblocks.

1st-5th Century A.D. During this period, the architecture con-tinued to preserve the former characteristics, and fortifications werebuilt using the same construction techniques. After the Roman occu-pation, many Illyrian cities became colonized like Dyrrah, Buthrot,Bylis and Shkodra to name a few.

The Roman influence in these cities was limited, because ofthe presence of an existing and advanced architecture, whereas con-struction techniques were developed to a greater degree under their

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DurresAmphitheatre, 2nd

century A.D.

influence. The orientation of Roman architecture towards Helenic ar-chitecture was mostly effected during the period of Augustus (who inhis youth carried out his studies in Apollonia) during the time that heremained in Rome.

From the beginning of the 6th century, during the period ofAnastas domination, three surrounding walls were constructed inDyrrah, as well as a new hipodrom. Many modern engineering workssuch as the sewerage system were also perfected. Although twoearthquakes ruined the city, it was quickly rebuilt, due to the fact thatmany of the Emperor’s treasures were kept there, and for the higheconomic and trading position of the city.

Regarding town planing during this period, the Illyrian citiespreserved their former schemes. In Apollonia, the town planing wasdefined by the former Hypodamic orthogonal system of roads. Thechanges consisted on new elements that made the centre appeardifferent, such as new monuments like Odeons, libraries, buleuterionsand so on.

In Buthrot, the road system followed the izoipses and the build-ings were built in a disordered manner. The buildings (therms andnymphs) or water deposits, were distributed all over the hill,overpassing the surrounding wall and offering a coastal character likePompeu and Herculaneum.

The Buthrot houses are mostly a peristyle type (columnedwith a courtyard), while in Apollonia a house with decorated mosaicsand an atrium was discovered. There is no doubt this house belongedto the upper class.

The social buildings were the biggestmonuments of this period, and include theamphitheatre of Dyrrah, constructed in the 2nd cen-tury A.D. To the west side of the surrounding wallof the city, with an eclipse shape the amphitheatremeasures 150m in length and 20m in height. Itwas built on a slope, with stairs to one side, andan underground covered galleries reinforced by astructure of 4m high by 2m of wide.

In the centre of Apollonia there are two veryimportant monuments. The Odeon (covered the-atre) and the temple of Agonoteteve or Buleuterionwhich was used as a meeting place for the Coun-cil of the City. In between the this temple and theOdeon the basements of the Arch of Triumph

have been discovered. Libraries were found in Dyrrah and Apollonia,and a gymnasium (secondary school) was found in Buthrot.

Therms are treated with an ordered architectonic and aestheticstyle, decorated with mosaics of a high artistic value. Therms were

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Baptistry of Butrint

also found in Apollonia., Buthrot and Dyrrah, the latter of which aredistinguished for architectural perfection.

The early buildings of Christian cult.

Becoming an official religionby the permition of EmperorConstantine in the 4th century A.D,churches and religious buildingsstarted to appear, generally follow-ing the Roman architecturalschemes of the previous centuries.The paleochristian architecture ofthe 4th-6th century A.D. has thesame values as those found in theneighbouring countries of Italy andGreece. This style extendedthroughout the vast territory of northand south Illyria.

Roofs with wood carcass, influenced by Roman architecturallinks, covered Illyrian basilicas. The biggest in Albania is the basilicaof Butrint, situated in the southeast of the city.

The Baptistry of Butrint is a testimonyto a great value of architecture in the 5th and 6th

century A.D. It’s importance extends beyondIllyria, and was the biggest building with a cen-tral planimetry in the whole Mediterranean world.Having a round shape with a diameter of 13.5m,the baptistry was paved with multi-coloured geo-metric and animal mosaic motifs, assuming atremendous artistic value. Two rows of granitetower over the mosaic to support the baptistryroof.

7th-15th Century - The Byzantine period

Byzantine architecture in Albania can beconsidered as an organic continuation of Illyrianarchitecture, effected also by various new fac-tors of the time.

Situated in the corridor that connectedeast with west (Byzantine with Rome), the ter-ritory of Illyria served as a transit point of archi-tectural values from west to east and vice-versa.During the early and middle ages, the architec-ture is represented in different buildings andconstructions such as houses, fortifications, re-ligious and cult buildings and engineering projects. The diversity ofbuildings and the high level of construction, shows an advanced me-dieval architecture on par with the most developed neighbouring coun-

View of Buna River bridge“Varosh” from RozafaCastle, Shkoder. Photo byMarubi

Gjirokastra Aqueduct

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Berati church, 14th

century

tries, indicating a mutual influence. Original architectural solutions inspecific elements are evident throughout.

During the period of the consolidation ofAlbanian feudalism, architecture flourished. Animportant urban phenomena appeared and de-veloped known as the birth of “VAROSH”, whichis the dwelling houses situated outside the sur-rounding walls of the city, causing the birth ofthe open city.

From the 13th-14th centuries, becauseof powerful Albanian princedoms such asPetrela, Kruja and Gjirokastra, the fortifications

were repaired, extended, enlarged, and in some cases even the“VAROSH” was surrounded by imposing walls.

Important architectural achievements of Christianity also be-long also to this period. They were developed according to the Byz-antine way, while retaining some original features, thus distinguish-ing them from neighbouring countries.

Medieval fortifications were built as feudal residences, castles,military fortifications, and observation point to name a few. The citiesestablished in medieval times were created based on the princesresidences and their castles like Petrela, Kruja and Gjirokastra. Othercities like Shkodra and Kanina had three fortified sections linked toeach other through gates. The sections consist of the outskirts, thedowntown and the castle, which as is usually situated in the domi-nant part of the city.

The Turkish-Albanian war of the 15th century led to the de-struction of many fortifications and buildings of high architectural value.The development of the open city “VAROSH” was quickly halted.

During this period, new fortifications were built according to the ad-vanced methods of warfare of the time.The castles of Lezha, Petrela,Devoll, Butrint and Shkodra belong to this period. Durres city be-came extremely fortified with walls and towers.

The castle of Tepelenabuilt by Ali Pasha

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The lead mosque inShkodra

The architecture of fortifications in the 15th-19th centuriesis seen in the reconstruction of strategic centres such as the castleof Elbasan, the castle of Preza and the castles of Tepelena and Vlora,as the most important defenses of the Albanian coastal regions.

Fortifications of the 18th-19th century attest to the domina-tion of the pashaliks. At the beginning of the 18th century, the castle ofShkodra was repaired by Bushat pasha and the castle of Berat byAhmet Kurt pasha. Among all the pashas, Ali pasha Tepelena, wasdistinguished for repairing and building of fortifications. Ali pasha usedforeign architects and engineers for his castles and engineering worksin the castle of Janina, Preveza, Arta and Sul. He built many othercastles including the castles of Porto-Palermo, Berat, Tepelena,Gjirokastra, Saint Triadhe, Butrint and Libohova. The majority of thesecastles are well-preserved, and are distinguished by their construc-tion technique using carved stones, regular geometric shapesplanimetries, the solid high towers, loop-hole parapets and so on.

Regarding the external architectural treatment, the castles arebuilt by carved stones through monumental treatment of folding doorsand cogged decoration of the upper parts of towers.

Buildings of the Muslim reli-gion were originally built using Turk-ish models, and over time took a some-what original shape. The mosques areclassified by either types with domeor by types with roof covered saloon.The latter were the first examples afterthe Turkish occupation, modifying ex-isting churches in Shkodra, Kruja,Berat, Elbasan and Kanina. The tech-nique of construction is very interest-ing, especially in domes, lintels, gradedarch windows and the way of buildingthe external walls by bricks and stones.This did not happen in Turkish mosques, and demonstrates the localarchitectural influence. The sharp pointed arch was substituted atthe end of 18th century by the semi-circle arch, used extensively inpopular architecture and especially in Christian buildings.

The largest and most complex mosque in Albania, is the leadmosque of Shkodra, built between 1773 and 1774 by Mustafa Bushatipasha. It’s similar to Istanbul mosques, with a central volume, cov-ered by roofs in triangular shapes at the corners, the presence ofportico, and the placing of windows in three rows being the maincharacteristics of this mosque. The minarets also play an importantrole in this ensemble.

The architecture of the Christian religion has inherited manyprinciples of the former architecture, and from the second part of the

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Voskopoje engravingof 1742

16th century, simple and small churchesbegan to appear, contining until the sec-ond part of the 18th century, when this ac-tivity peaked. The architecture of the Chris-tian religion is characterized by the freeinterpretation of types and shapes andshow a special individuality of the masterworks, and their efforts to find new waysof architectural expressions.

From the 16th-19th century, manyChristian sanctuaries were built after thelong period of the Turkish occupation. Thefirst buildings of this period belong to thesecond part of 16th century, and were verysmall with simple shape planimetry. The

more sophisticated churches emerged in the 18th century, and arerepresented by the basilicas of Voskopoja.

The post-Byzantine churches are classified in three types: 1.With one neff; 2. Cross shape covered with a dome; and 3. Basilicas.

The church of Saint Koll in Voskopoja is a monument of greatvalue. Pictures, painted by the masters David Selenica, Kostandinand Athanas Zografi brothers cover its internal walls.

This variety of church has a common horizontal axis to be ofconsiderable length, even in the presence of the vertical axis. Thedecorations are presented in closed volumes with even facades andvery narrow lighting spaces.

Many monasteries belong to this period aswell. These buildings make an architectural en-semble, placed in very dominating, well defendedand beautiful places. The main building in this en-semble is the church. These ensembles are char-acterized by their compactness, where every build-ing has its function. Important to be mentioned forthe architectural and iconographic values ones arethe monastery of Ardenica and that of Apolonia,which was constructed within the ancient city ru-ins.

Urban development of the medieval cityduring 15th-19th centuries

Turkish occupation had negative influenceson the development of the Albanian city, which in

spite of the destruction of the Turkish-Albanian war, achieved a con-siderable level of development. In the 17th century, the Albanian citygrew and prospered. The notes of a traveller of that time, Evlia Celebia,indicate significantly developed cities like Berat, Gjirokastra, and

Monastery in Apollonia.Photo by K. T., 2009

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View of Berat (Cityof 1000 windows)

Elbasan. To this point, the Albanian city had created its urban shapeby preserving their main individual features in subsequent centuries.During the 17th century, markets (the bazaars) were transformedinto proper and authentic exchanging and production centres. Highclock & bell towers completed the markets of these medieval cities.

In the the 18th century, the mosque withthe clock tower, became noticeable as a monu-mental building among other social buildings likepublic baths, madrassahs (schools), and so forth,to enrich the centre of the city. Every quarter ofthe town, had its own small center consisting of amosque, steam baths (hamam) and a fountain.

During the 19th century, Albanian cities onceagain began to prosper. In most cities, a bazaarwas constructed to be centre of trade and produc-tion, but the rates of town planning developmentsdiffered from one city to another. Elbasan,Gjirokastra and Berat preserved in general theirtown planing, while the city of Shkodra was en-larged to the city boundaries of today, to be endat the castle of Rozafa, which had completely lostits importance by the middle of 19th century. If thecity of Shkodra was developed without a regulartown planning, Korça was extended according toa modern urban planing system (orthogonal system of wide streetsand avenues) coinciding with the boom of trade development there.

The late Albanian cityformed its main urban charac-teristics in the second part of17th century, resolving the mainissues of its development andextensions such as the cen-tre and the road system,which is preserved mostly tothis day.

The Albanian medievalcity could be classified as ei-ther cities linked with castlesand fortifications, placed on steep hillsides like Berat, Gjirokastra,Kruja, or cities established on flat grounds like Tirana, Kavaja andElbasan.

Cities built within castles are the most ancient and developed.At the beginning, the city was linked to its fortification, but later thecity is extended to include the“Varosh”, the area outside of the castle.

The sloping and hilly terrain served as a natural defence andhad a great deal of influence in the architectural ensembles, impos-

Tirana centre.Photo by Marubi

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Vila in Korca

ing an obliged orientation to all the housesto cover the hillside forming compact andorganic buildings. The lack of land andlevel ground meant that the houses mustbe constructed in rows (as in theneighbourhood of Mangalem, Berat). Inother cases, the houses are placed in afree manner like in Gjirokastra. In bothcases, the connection with the land growsthe monumentality. Houses come out di-rectly in the street, taking part in its ar-chitectural composition. The steep terrainhas conditioned the house to be verticallycomposed and placed in a stair-like man-ner, consisting of two or three floors. Thecult buildings are totally merged and lostwithin this dynamic ensemble of “stair like”houses, which is the main element in thisarchitectonical composition.

The cities on the plains have com-pletely different characteristics. Housesare rarely spread out, placed in vast landand surrounded by high walls. The com-positional monotony breaks down only by

the appearance of cult buildings. They are usually built on level groundsto show dynamic architectural volume effects.

The houses of the upper class were built in suitable places,usually wide open, full of light and greenness, while the lower classhouses were small, close to one another, and built in narrow placeswithout enough light. In the most of the big Albanian cities there werealso Muslim, Catholic and Orthodocs parts of the city.

In the fortified cities, the main street began at the main en-trances to the castles, then spread out across the city by secondary

roads. The perpendicular roads were builtin the forms of stairs. A key role was alsoplayed by the roads that linked the dwell-ing quarters with the economic and tradecentre.

In flat cities, wide main streets androads paved with stones ran continuously,with other streets linking cities betweenthem.

The greenness is characteristic ofthe medieval city, especially in the steep,hilly quarters, where the greenness natu-rally linked the houses to the ground, em-phasizing its monumental character.

Gjirokastra “stair like”city ensemble

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Albanian house types: A-rural and B- urban

Albanian museum cities of Berat and Gjirokastra (both underUNESCO Cultural Heritage Protection as the finest examples of Ot-toman Architecture), as well as the historical centers of Elbasan andKorça, represent the achievements of the medieval urban develop-ments of the 18th-19th centuries.

The Albanian HouseThe Albanian house plays an im-

portant role for it’s architectural types andvalue well spread all over Albanian territo-ries in the Balkans. The Albanian houseduring the 18th and 19th centuries is distin-guished for its architectural achievementsboth in village and city. The movement ofthe National Renaissance together withthe birth of capitalism elevated the archi-tectural values of Albanian house. Cityhouses are distinguished from villagehouses, especially from the typical NorthAlbanian village house. Generally the civilhouse belongs to one family, but thereare examples of houses for two familymembers (i.e. brothers), in this case thehouse is built according to a symmetricaxes

The types of Albanian house arerural and urban.

According to its volume and plani-metric composition the civil house is clas-sified in the 4 groups:

- Houses with fire place (Tirana house)

- House with porch (hajat)

- Houses with lobby (cardak)

- Civil tower (house of Gjirokastra)

Urban development and Archi-Urban development and Archi-Urban development and Archi-Urban development and Archi-Urban development and Archi-tecture in the 20tecture in the 20tecture in the 20tecture in the 20tecture in the 20ththththth century century century century century

This period starts with the Austrian occupationduring First World War, followed by the Fan Noli demo-cratic government to the kingdom of King Zog culminat-ing with the Italian occupation. Albanian cities, with ex-isting medieval town planning schemes, were subject toproper town-planning studies carried out by Austrian ar-chitects, aiming at European urbanisation of Albaniancities.

Gjirokastra tower house

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In 1920, Tirana was declared the capital of Albania and thegovernment of Fan Noli decided to establish modern governmentalbuildings for a European administrative centre. Skanderbeg Squarewas designed, and the surrounding governmental buildings were tobe situated as they are today. The historical North-South Boulevardis also decided at this time. The main architect of this monumentalBoulevard was the Eshref Frasheri, a minister of the Fan Noli govern-ment at the time. He was assisted by the architects Chiaravelli ofItaly and Weiss of Austria.

King Zog played an important role in the town planning of themain cities, pushing the implementation of these plans. In 1930, theboulevard called “Zog I” and the governmental buildings began to bebuilt in Tirana. The main roads were widened and the city-limits weredefined. In 1931, Tirana had 600 ha within its borders and the indus-trial zones as well as residential areas were defined according to adetailed urban study. The main architect of the town-planning projectof Tirana during this time was the Austrian architect Kohler. Alsoduring this time, elaborately decorated villas were built in Korca andelsewhere.

After the Italian occupation in 1939, Italian architects reviewedall urban projects and studies and designed many of them from ear-liest stages. The design style was rational, and of the fascist type(the Augustian fascist complex at the end of “Zog I” Bulevard in Tiranacomprising fascist offices, the stadium and other constructions inDurres harbour). The most notable Italian architects were involved inthe designs of modern Tirana, like Gherardo Bosio, Ivo Lambertiniand Ferdinando Poggio. They worked also in the designs of thetown-planning projects of Durres, Vlora, Elbasan, Berat, Petrela and

First ketch of Tirana“political sportive” areaclosing the mainboulevard and the view ofthis area on 2001

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Saranda. Besides, rational characteristics,they had also respected the Albanian psy-chology and tradition in their designs regard-ing private property. They designed Tirana tobe an extensive city with private villas andpreserved the historic center of the city, in-cluding the mosque, the clock tower and themarket among other aspects, which remainas important points of the city.

The town planning of Albanian citiesin 1942 was carried out by Italian architects,and is considered as the basis for the urbanplaning projects after the liberation of thecountry.

Urban & Architecture after WWII(Communist dictatorship period)

The end of the World War II brought a com-munist government in Albania. The dictatorial com-munist system was too centralized and inclinedtoward launching urbanistic operations that ignoredprivate ownership, with architects and town plan-ners enjoying the “freedom” to “revolutionarize andtransform “easily”.Communist dictatorship heldarchitects under tight control and condemnedseverely every sign of modernism, however small,and every tendency to freedom in their creativeprocess that might cause problems to the ideol-ogy of the regime in power. This situation went onfor long decades until the wind of change beganto blow in Albania.

HOWEVER it is important to note that af-ter 1944 the urban schemes of the main citieswere preserved. Further more, cities likeGjirokastra and Berat were declared “museum cit-ies”.

There started the new regulatory plans as that of Tirana drawnup in 1957. Its basis consisted in a renewed development of the ex-isting zones and creating new peripheral areas in the form of satel-lite towns in order to provide the labor force for the new local industry(mechanical and textile), agricultural enterprises and coal mines chieflyalong the main transport roadway and towards the outskirts of thecity.

Tirana first real UrbanMasterplan of 1942 draftedby Italian Architects

Prefabricated popularflat blocks in Albaniabuilt from 1970 to 1990.

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After 1960, rehabilitation projects were geared towards the in-dustrial and agricultural development of Albania. Major infrastructureprojects were undertaken, such as hydropower plants, irrirrigationprojects, railways, roads, plants, mines and the oil industry began tobe developed.

The new Albanian house became small flats in five to six floorbuildings, built through volunteering work which reflected the poorconditions of life. The new towns and the new parts of the existingtowns and cities represent the same strict regular urban schemes.Even the social buildings like schools, hospitals, kindergartens werea standard design throughout Albania to reduce cost and time.

“The Albanian Cultural revolutionof 1967 damaged numerous architec-tural values all over the country eitherby destroying the cult buildings or byconverting them to cultural houses, cin-emas, or sport palaces (Shkodra’scatholic Cathedral).

In spite of the totalitarian cli-mate, talented Albanian architectsmanaged to produce few, but monu-mental buildings like the “Palace ofCongress” and masterpieces like the“Pyramid”, both linked to theglorifcation of the dictator Enver Hoxha.

In 1985, the National Institute of Urbanistic Studies and Projectslaunched the drawing up of a new regulatory plan that was adopted

by government 1989.

Objective I of this plan wasto satisfy the housing needsby 2005; to define newspaces for industrial develop-ment by considering ways ofsettling the pollution prob-lems; and to enlarge andimprove the street network.

Objective II of the regu-latory plan was to review andreassess a great part of theresidential area that wasmarked as an inappropriate

settlement area. From 960 ha of the inhabited area, only 460 ha wereconsidered as properly settled, while the rest of 500 ha was to be thefocus of more detailed reassessment plans, in which the necessary

The “Pyramid” built asmuseum of Enver Hoxha in1986 and converted to theInternational CulturalCenter in 1991

Tirana Regulatory Plan of1989 still in power in 2010!

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space for service facilities was to be found even at the cost of obtain-ing such space by tearing down existing structures.

Objective III A disturbing problem to be settled by the newregulatory plan was that of immigration, which would be difficult tocontrol following 1990.

From 60,000 inhabitants that Tirana counted in 1945, the popu-lation had increased to 300,000 in 1992. The new plan provided forthe population’s growth to reach 317,000 by 2005. In spite of thepresence of this demographic dynamics, the plan provides for a re-duction in the residential density from 224 inh./ha in 1988 to 170 inh./ha in 2005 due to the enlargement of the residential area space.

Urban & Architecture after 1990Political and economic changes that took place at the begin-

ning of the 1990s were rapid and dramatic and caught architectsunprepared who for years in succession were producing a rigid, stan-dardized and occasionally even primitive architecture, if some ob-jects of public importance are excludedYears 1991 to 1993 were theyears of an identity crisis of Albanian architecture, but by the sametoken they mark the beginning of a new era for the architecture ofTirana toward a growing drift to creation of private workshops in Tiranawhere architects, but also specialists of other construction fields,organized themselves in small private project bureaus based on avery pragmatic practice. The performance of private sector marks aturning point in architecture, too. In the meantime, many architectswere able to become well acquainted with international architecturebecause of their trips abroad.

During 1996, the architect’s profession experienced a sort ofreawakening as many people who invested in the bogus pyramidschemes began to make investment projects that required architec-tonic designs and ideas. These projects were often large and exag-gerated and though in most cases they were never materialized, theyindirectly influenced the employment and the practice of architectureprofessionals who finally had a chance to let free their creative skillswhat gave architecture in Albania a new impulse, especially in themain cities’ center, where an investment boom has taken place inrecent years, mainly in multistoried buildings.

After 1990, the transition period brought in many irregularitiesin urban planning and in many cases outlaw construction occured,especially in Tirana, which is the main urban area. With the return toprivate property, the Albanian house has diversified its forms andshapes depending on the terrain, location, occurrence of raw mate-rial and funds.

Nowhere in Albania has development been so fast and at timesunregulated as in Tirana. This was largely due to the mass regionalmigration from the villages into the city, more than quadrupling Tirana’s

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population in less than 20 years. Naturally, this has led to a greatdeal of transportation issues, such as bottlenecks, narrow streets,lack of parking and difficulty for waste management and emergencyservices.

In the early 90s, the eagerness after waiting so long for privatebusiness, led to the building of many bars and cafés everywhere. Asa result, many of these businesses were located in the main cityparks, along the Lana River and everywhere else imaginable. From1997-2004 the municipal government began the campaign “Return toIdentity” by destroying all the illegal buildings in the centre, as wellas a new project called “City of Many Colors” initiated by Mayor EdiRama. As a result, the main buildings along the boulevard and thering received a “facelift” by being painted with colors of various geo-metrical forms, slogans and iamges, many of which are prevalenttoday. This concept has been widely adopted throughout Albania.

While the current scene remains full of heavy concrete andbrick constructions, quickly built to accommodate the exploding popu-lation, the future appears drastically different. The country has re-cently come under the spotlight of international urban development,often selecting extreme designs that may not be approved in otherEuropean cities. Many of these projects are part of a larger schemeto modernize the city and develop a distinct downtown core, takinginto account transportation and other essential urban issues, includ-ing major underground parking lots.

As well, major road construction projects are taking place,including a four lane highway connecting the mountainous regionbetween Durres and Kosovo, which features a 5km tunnel, the long-est in the Balkans.

The Competition for theTirana Center urban planningstarted at May 2003 with the Callof opening of international bid onthe occasion of International Con-ference of ENHR, (European Net-work for of Housing Research). Atleast 35 International Studios ap-plied- only one of them was Alba-nian, among them there were wellknown studios. There were short-listed, as selected by an interna-tional jury,: Architecture Studio(France), Boles & Wilson (Ger-

many-Australia), and Mecano (Nederland).The Winner was FrenchStudio Named: Architecture Studio which enjoys a notable interna-tional reputation and has carried out a considerable number of impor-tant Projects, including the construction of Head Quarters of the Eu-ropean Parliament.

Studio design of anapproved futuredevelopment in Tirana,2008

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The version represented by Architecture Studio have givenfull priority to the pedestrians, green areas and water mirrors and hasproposed a complete cancellation of car traffic in some of the keyareas of the City like the “Skanderbeg” Square and “Mother Teresa”Square. The work for the renovation of Boulevard and Lana River iscombined with the introduction of new elements of urban texture andarchitecture finish of construction of side walks and extension of thegreen areas. In order to create a new profile for main Boulevard, whichwill contemporary be more plastic and aggressive, it has been pro-posed the creation of two main parallel axes (one by each side) of theBoulevard. These axes will be constituted by high buildings, up to 25-30 floors, along both sides of Main Boulevard, with a distance ofabout 50-100 meters from each other. The Boulevard will be notablygreen at the sides and also will have a green closing area at the end,near the Train Station, creating a balance with the green zone of“Rinia” Park. In the same time this closing area defines a boundaryfor the vital infrastructure extension area, just at the northern part ofthe city, which is the growing area of the city

In the centre of Tirana, soaring over the Hero’s Boulevard(Deshmoret e Kombit) rise the Twin Towers. Completed in 2004, theyare two 15 story office high-rises, with a modern blue glass exterior.One block away stands the 16 story European Trade Centre, anothermajor high-rise office tower with a shopping centre below. It is built ofsteel and concrete, with a semi-circle glass exterior

Other projects in Tirana include theTID Building, designed by a Belgian archi-tecture firm. It will stand 85m tall at the sym-bolic centre of old Tirana. At the base of thenorth-east corner sits the tomb of SulemanPasha, the founder of Tirana. The tower hasbeen designed to feature a three dimen-sional, circular cut at the base, serving asan umbrella overtop of the undisturbed monu-ment.

Major projects are taking placethroughout the country, such as the IllyriaSquare design competition in Durres. The2008 competition featured 36 domestic andinternational studios competing for the redevelopment of the mainsquare in Durres, and construction will begin in 2009. As well, manylarge scale commercial and residential centers are springing upthroughout the country, both in city centers and along the highways.In other cases entire ‘cities’ are being constructed, such as the Gar-den City between Tirana and Durres. Garden city consists of 31 blocksof uniquely painted 5 story apartments, in a self-contained environ-ment with shops, streets, amenities and 24 hour security. Similarprojects exist in Vlora and elsewhere.

“Tid” Building by 51N4Estudio, under construc-tion, Tirana, 2009

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Possibly taking shape from the traditional Albanian Kulla, ordefense tower, a new era of towers is rising fast. These are the ‘SkyTowers’, and almost every major Albanian city has one, includingDurres, Tirana, Elbasan, Korca and several cities in Albanian Kosovo.

These Sky Towers consist predomi-nantly of offices and a few small shops,however the defining feature is a roof-top cafe, which in some cases also re-volve. The young construction expertArber Hoti claims ‘’The sky tower of-fers a panoramic 360' view to enjoy overcoffee or a meeting and although thedefensive purpose of the ‘kulla’ is nolonger necessary, from the new towersone can still witness the ‘concrete sol-diers’ waging war on the city and thesky.”

Authors: Architect Keida Lulo & Kevin Tummers

Bibliography

History of Albanian Architecture Model, Various Authors,1970

Documents of Central Technical Archives of Tirana, 2000

Emin Riza & Pirro Thomo, Architecture Tradionnelle desBalkans, 1990

Modern architecture inKorca, 2008