Author: Dallandyshe Xhaferri
Considered as one of the buildings with the most beautiful architecture built before 1944, nothing of its grandeur remains from the villa "Vila 24". Nor from the classification, Cultural Monument of the Second Category. Abandoned for 20 years, the building located on "Konti Uran" street proves the state's neglect of history.
Dust, the aroma of traditional dishes being cooked in the oven, traffic along the "Kavaja Street", the sound of horns giving way to the noise of new constructions and the barking of a group of dogs in the courtyard. this is the atmosphere around the historic building. "A family of the Egyptian minority lives there, "- tells about "Sinjalizo", a resident of the area, according to whom the homeless, but also animals enter and leave the building. “They have a lot of dogs and sometimes you are afraid to approach the building", says the woman. A surrounding wall has been replaced with a net and blankets have been placed on the windows of the villa.
Tirana villas, the past that is being replaced by palaces
According to the official position of the Ministry of Culture for "Sinjalizo", it turns out that eight (8) historical-cultural monuments of Tirana have lost this status within the span of two years. From 2019 to 2021, they were removed from the list. Seven of these monuments are villa-type dwellings built mainly after the 1930s, where the influence of Italian culture began to be felt even more. According to Albanian law number 27/2018 "On Cultural Heritage and Museums" are themselvesthe owners and possessors of cultural immovable property who take care to preserve and keep cultural property in good condition".
However, according to a study conducted in 2021 by Citizens Channel, during the period 2015-2020, for 45 Cultural Monument villas taken in the study, 36 orders were issued to remove the status. What happened next was the noise of cranes and concrete mixers, after the spaces of 17 of these villas were replaced with new buildings.
According to reports issued by IKTK (National Institute of Cultural Heritage), the lack of investment is seen as the main reason for the removal of the status, as the villas "have lost their cultural and historical values".
But for the architect Doriana Musai, the superimposition of the palaces on the cultural and historical monuments "it is more of an invasion than a development, since the loss of what the grandparents built, affects the creation of a non-empathetic society".
"The biggest loss is social cohesion, the culture of harmony and coexistence, inherited over the centuries",- explains Musa.
The Ministry of Culture declares for "Sinjalizo" that there are 235 cultural monuments and tombstones in the capital. Meanwhile, only 12 of them are classified as cultural monuments of the first category. Also, in her answer, it is known through the language of numbers that in the surroundings of Tirana there are 40 Cultural Monuments, tombstones and 13 Natural Monuments.
"Referring to their age, these structures present different rates of depreciation and the need for restoration is periodic", - it is stated in the Ministry's response, "while the fund determined by this institution for the Tirana Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage (DRTKT) is 2.500.000 lek for the year 2022. The DRTKT within the city has under supervision "only the Clock Tower and the former building of Toptan's Sarajes", says the answer received from this institution.
The Center for the Restoration and Realization of Works of Art is the institution under the Tirana Municipality, which also deals with the maintenance of monuments.
"The budget for the year 2022 of the institution Center for Restoration and Realization of Works of Art is in the amount of ALL 15,687,172"- it is said in the response of the Municipality of Tirana. Otherwise, this amount takes the weight of 2% in the program of cultural heritage, artistic and cultural events.
How are cultural monuments undone?
On December 7, 2016, the Council of Ministers made the decision to remove the ownership of the Pyramid of Tirana from the Ministry of Culture and transfer it to the Municipality of Tirana. This decision paved the way for the start of the works for the return of the building "at the center of technology innovation" and the deletion of the status as a Cultural Monument in 2017.
According to public data in "Open Procurement", the investment to return the Pyramid to the center of innovation is being financed by the Municipality of Tirana, the Ministry of Culture and the Albanian-American Development Fund. Initially, the tender announcement date, which was worth 1 (463 billion) ALL with VAT, was opened on August 358, 358, and the contract with the winning company was signed on December 1.4, 3. The duration foreseen in the works contract was 2020 months, but the works on the Pyramid have not yet been completed.
Last month, on October 5, it opened without competition tender with a winning value of 228 ALL without VAT, which is reflected with a red flag in Open Procurement. Due to the lack of competition, the same companies, "Fusha shpk" and "Edil-al-it shpk", were declared winners, while in the additional contract no date has been published on when the works on the Pyramid are expected to close.
Another cultural monument that has returned to the ownership of the Municipality of Tirana is the former building of Saraje t Toptanë. Through the official written response, the Municipality of Tirana has placed at the disposal of "Sinjalizo" the document of taking this decision, in order to open the way for the project for "Restoration and Revitalization of the Toptans' Apartment".
According to the decision taken on October 22 of last year, the value of about 251 million ALL of the expropriation would be borne by the Municipality of Tirana, while in August of that year, Sarajet was engulfed in flames, the circumstances still remain unclear from the official authorities .
The collapse of the National Theater, the architect Doriana Musai describes as "genius loci", otherwise as the loss of the soul of the city. The decision to demolish the building was implemented around 04:30 in the morning, when the National and Experimental Theater buildings were demolished on May 17, 2020, after almost two years of opposition by activists and part of the actors.
"The loss of the theater heralded the loss of the city. Today, Tirana has an amorphous form and its urban structure does not build a city”,- says Musai, who adds that the way of making decisions of Albanian institutions has not changed from that of the 1950s-1960s. "The methodology and forms of decisions are autocratic and state", she concludes.
The tender for the reconstruction of the first phase of the National Theater building is currently open, the winner of which will be announced next week on November 3. The limit fund of the tender is approximately ALL 1.8 billion, while the duration of the works is expected to be 27 months.
