Sites determined for new independence monuments

TIRANA, July 3 – An interministerial committee headed by Prime Minister Sali Berisha has decided Albania’s independence monument will be placed in the Rinia park, facing the capital’s central boulevard, next to the Defence Ministry building. “This site meets all parameters for the placing of this monument and takes into consideration the artists’ request to place this monument in a green environment as a very important part,” said the committee.
The independence monument has been designed by two Munich-based architects, Kosovo’s Visar Obrija and Germany’s Kai Roman Kiklas, who were inspired by the Albanian traditional house. To express the idea of independence, the authors bring an open building composed of two parts of a cube with one half holding the roof and the remaining one the platform. This structure has been perceived with length, width and height of 8 meters where people can freely walk through. In the inner sides of the monument, there will be laser drawn elements such as the “Declaration of Independence’ the national symbol of the double headed eagle and human portraits. The open building symbolizes the independence of the Albanian nation, the jump from isolation to freedom and the look into the future.
The committee also decided on exhibition sites for other winning design projects dedicated to King Zog, independence leader Ismail Qemali, politician Hasan Prishtina. A memorial to the Congress of Lushnja, which in 1920 reaffirmed Albania’s independence, appointed a new Government and declared Tirana as Albania’s capital will also be placed in Lushnja town, southwest Albania.
Prime Minister Berisha proposed that the Besa documentary paying tribute to Albania’s Code of Honour and a tourism promotional documentary by Eliza Dushku, the Hollywood actress of Albanian origin, should be included in the calendar of events on Albania’s centenary independence and enable their screening for the European and wider public.