Tirana's forgotten villas

The dilapidated condition of the old villas of my capital city. (Tirana,Albania)

Built in the first half of the twentieth century, they were the first signs of the modernization of the new Albanian state. Their elegant architecture gave another look to the capital. Together with the traditional Tirana houses with adobe, they gave shape to the new Albanian capital.

Initially, with the advent of communism, these buildings began to be replaced by Soviet-style palaces, located in every corner of Tirana today, and then by the colorful buildings of political pluralism, where both together eventually destroyed the capital's urban plan. Today these villas, together with the old adobe houses, are in poor condition and totally depreciated. We can see the colorful capital in every street, but we have to look for its origin in these forgotten alleys and half-collapsed walls. Our national culture is hidden there in fear.

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The architectural style of these buildings is deeply influenced by italian and austro-hungarian architecture. That is of course as a result of urban transformations by various Austro-Hungarian and Italian architects, giving them the appearance of western European cities. They introduced architectural styles such as Historicism, Art Nouveau, Neo-Renaissance and Neoclassicism.

Although much has been achieved, critics argue that there is no clear vision on Tirana's future. Some of the pressing issues facing Tirana are loss of public space due to illegal and chaotic construction, unpaved roads in suburban areas, degradation of Tirana's Artificial Lake, rehabilitation of Skanderbeg Square, an ever-present smog, the construction of a central bus station and lack of public parking space.

These buildings should definitely be reconstructed and preserved as an important factor of our national culture

Pictures from preservingtirana.city

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