Today: Aug 12, 2026

Architect to PM Rama: Cancel Elections, Become King

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Reinier de Graaf’s open letter in The Albanian Files has become a symbol of the troubling relationship between global architecture, political patronage and one-man rule in Albania. The following open letter by Dutch architect Reinier de Graaf, partner at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, has become one of the most controversial passages in The Albanian Files, the newly published volume on Albania’s architectural transformation. Written in March 2025, ahead of Albania’s parliamentary elections, the letter praises Prime Minister Edi Rama’s patronage of international architecture but then goes much further. De Graaf suggests that, “for us architects,” it would be better if Albania’s elections…

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