TIRANA, Dec. 17 – The socialist realism architecture of Albania’s hospitals built under the country’s communist regime is being featured in an exhibition at the National Art Gallery in an event breaking a taboo about architecture under communism and its values.
The “White Buildings” exhibition showcases 25 hospitals in an attempt to turn back attention to an unwritten chapter in the history of Albanian architecture, that of the socialist realism heritage.
“The fragments from the hospital architecture displayed in this exhibition are part of a wider architectural, social, cultural and political mosaic. Through the documentation and recognition of the pieces of this mosaic, we aim at gradually completing the picture of a foggy reality sometimes by oblivion and refusal of the past which supports and develops the current urban structures,” says the group of architects led by Gjergj Islami.
Most of Albania’s current health facilities also date back to the communist regime.
“White Buildings’ the architecture of Albanian hospitals from 1945 to 1990 will be open at the National Art Gallery until December 22.
