Evoked, an exhibition by 32 Albanian and Italian architects depicting unauthorized residential architecture that blossomed across Albania after 1991, opened at FAB Gallery-University of the Arts of Tirana on February 23.
Organized by the National Territorial Planning Agency, the Bari Polytechnic University, the Italian Institute of Culture, and the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU), the opening ceremony was attended by Italian Deputy Ambassador in Tirana, Marcello Cavalcaselle and architect Stefano Boeri.
According to the Minister of Urban Development Eglantina Gjermeni, such ‘informal architecture’ is not only an Albanian phenomenon, but occurs in other countries in the region as well as in other countries going through transition processes towards development.
“In Albania there are about 400 thousand buildings unauthorised as real estate. It is a fact, that the lack of planning tools such as the National Regulatory Plan and Local Plans, have damaged the territory and have reduced the only source of healthy and sustainable development – the earth,” Gjermeni said at the opening ceremony. “Thanks to an utmost commitment, the legalization of 40 thousand unauthorized buildings was made possible. By the end of 2016, we aim to legalize 100 thousand objects, part of the real estate market and therefore a contribution to the economy,” Gjermeni added.
Featuring 16 photos of unauthorised constructions along the Albanian coastline by Albanian photographer Albes Fusha, and proposals by 32 Albanian and Italian architects, the exhibition does not reflect in depth the causes and the consequences of such constructions in Albania, but rather shows a small part of this phenomenon on a platform, which can in turn attract more attention to the informal architecture from different perspectives and spark dialogues.
The exhibition will be open until March 6.
