New parliament sparks political debate

TIRANA, March 28 – An international architecture jury selected last week a proposal from an Austrian company for a new parliament building in central Tirana, right at the place where now there stands the ‘pyramid’, built as a museum for the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha.
Twenty-three years later it is very likely its life is over.
The jury head Johannes Ibelings announced the winner among 12 international projects selected by the jury and voted by the public to replace the current International Cultural Centre, known as the Pyramid, where a private TV station is also located.
The governing Democrats have made a speedy plan to crush down the old pyramid and replace it with a modern, transparent architecture right in time for the 100th anniversary of the independence from the Turkish Ottoman Empire in November 2012.
The new assembly will be built on the site of the former pyramid-shaped mausoleum of Albania’s Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha, which for the last two decades has served as a cultural center.
“There has been a thorough discussion of the urban and architectural qualities, including sustainability, projected costs and the proper representation of Albania’s democracy at the center of the capital,” the chairman of the jury, Johhanes Ibeliengs, said, announcing the winning bid.
Twelve international architectural firms took part in the competition.
Although the government previously said it planned to spend up to 40 million euro on the new assembly, the costs of the project designed by Austrian architect Wolf D Prix remain unclear.
Prix’s architectural firm is known for its bravura designs and complex forms – but also for repeated cost overruns in their projects.
but the new project has also to bear with the political charge. The opposition immediately accused parliament Speaker of fixing the Austrian company that would built it since before the end of the public tender. They referred to an article published 12 days ahead at an Austrian newspaper saying the Austrian company had already won the tender.
Besides this was the second competition held for a new parliamentary building in as many years. After the first project was discarded, the government spent nearly a million euro in August on renovating the current assembly.
Three months later, in November 2010, Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced that the government would tear down the Tirana pyramid and build a new home for parliament there.
The proposal has provoked fierce debate, as the government has already spent 2 million euro on transforming the pyramid into a national theatre.
Besides the private media outlet complains because it has a contract that expires after many other years there.