With his plan to transform Albania through architecture, such as by building a luxury resort in a natural area, Prime Minister Edi Rama has drawn the ire of the people. Even Dutch architecture firms are now being targeted.

By Kirsten Hannema, De Volkskrant

“It will be Albania's gift to Europe,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview with the British newspaper 'The Observer', speaking about Ivanka Trump and her partner Jared Kushner's plan to develop the pristine island of Sazan, off the Albanian coast, into a luxury resort with ten thousand hotel rooms.

The article was published on May 22, the day before protests against the plan broke out in the coastal village of Zvërnec, which then spread to the capital Tirana. Since then, there have been massive protests there.

Not just from conservationists, who fear that protected species like flamingos will become extinct; the opposition is directed against the building culture in general and the political system behind it.

“Albania is seen as a paradise for architects to experiment, as a playground, just like Rotterdam once was,” Elian Stefa, an architect and curator from Tirana, told The Architect's Newspaper. “But do all these experiments align with the wishes of the people? Many people feel that the identity of the capital is changing without their consent.”

Dutch offices

Well-known Dutch offices also build a lot in Albania, such as OMA (known, among others, for the Kunsthal in Rotterdam and the headquarters of Chinese state television) and MVRDV (among others for the Markthal and the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum Depot in Rotterdam).

They are part of the "Arch Army", as Rama calls the renowned foreign architects he has gathered around him to transform the country, with the aim of membership in the European Union.

As mayor of Tirana (2000–2011), the socialist Rama, an artist by profession, had the gray buildings of the communist era painted in colors and organized international design competitions.

As prime minister (since 2013), he continued with projects such as the transformation of dictator Enver Hoxha's Pyramid into a multifunctional complex for young people, designed by MVRDV.

The Rotterdam office also designed the Skanderbeg building, which depicts the head of national hero Gjergj Kastrioti. However, some people say they see the head of Rama himself there.

Recently, anger has also been directed at this "army of architects."

The reason is the book The Albanian Files, an eight-hundred-page volume with projects from sixty foreign architecture studios, edited by Dutchwoman Anneke Abhelakh.

The contribution of Reinier de Graaf, partner at OMA, has caused particularly much reaction.

He wrote an open letter to Rama, in which he suggests that no more elections be held, so that the “enlightened patron of architecture” can remain prime minister for life, “perhaps even as a king.”

The letter, published by the Tirana Times, was intended as ironic, but has been interpreted literally by some – and has added fuel to the fire of Rama's opponents, who are calling for his resignation.

Out of nowhere

“This doesn’t come out of nowhere,” says Dutch-based Albanian architect Dorina Pllumbi. “The laudatory stories in the foreign press about the projects that famous architects are building here have so far silenced critical voices.”

“What is happening now in Tirana is that citizens are organizing and making their voices heard,” adds her colleague Klodiana Millona. Architects have been participating in demonstrations in recent days. One group of protesters brought a concrete birthday cake for Rama, who turned 62 on Saturday.

Pllumbi and Millona see that The Albanian Files has brought to the surface a lot of pent-up anger.

Due to the fact that foreign architects get all the opportunities to build, while Albanian studios are treated as "local fixers".

For the disappearing nature and for the National Theater, which – while activists were still inside – was bulldozed to make way for a new theater with a tower, designed by the Danish studio BIG.

For the towers in which many apartments remain empty, while the average rent in Tirana rises and existing family homes are being demolished.

This raises questions about the financial flows behind construction projects.

Various international reports have described the Albanian construction sector as a hotbed of corruption and money laundering.

SPAK, the special anti-corruption prosecution in Albania, is investigating the way in which the projects of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been developed.

The book shows that Rama is closely involved in the selection of architects for the projects.

Renowned Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena writes that he received a message from a colleague, "if he could share my number with the prime minister of Albania."

“I said: of course. Five minutes later I was contacted by the prime minister to ask if I could go to Tirana to talk about a possible project.”

He won the closed competition for a 300-meter-high skyscraper, which will be built in the capital.

Refreshing directness

Winy Maas of MVRDV praises “Albania’s openness to new ideas and willingness to take risks.”

“Prime Minister Edi Rama’s conviction that architecture is an essential part of the country’s future sets the tone. The way the projects are handled demonstrates a refreshing directness,” says Maas.

On June 4, the day of the book's presentation, Rama gave an interview to CNN regarding the protests against plans for Sazan Island.

He said the resort project would show how nature and construction can go hand in hand, and held up the book The Albanian Files in front of the camera.

“This is proof that it will be done properly,” he said.

The book features various holiday resorts, including a complex in the coastal town of Dhërmi (Drymades) with white Mediterranean apartment buildings, designed by Rotterdam studio Cityförster.

Editor Anneke Abhelakh is surprised by all this fuss.

“When I started the book, I thought I was documenting a period. Meanwhile, I realize that the documentation itself can become part of the history it records. What this debate shows is that there is a need for more transparency about how this development has occurred.”

She considers it "significant" that the same book was donated by Rama to French President Emmanuel Macron as an example of Albania's transformation, while protesters use it as a criticism of his policies.

"This is not a contradiction, but a sign that this story has not yet been definitively written."

Abuse of power

Belind Këlliçi, a member of parliament for the Democratic Party, sees the book as evidence of abuse of power and illegal construction practices. He is calling for an investigation to verify how, in his opinion, foreign architects have benefited from major public projects in Albania.

Reinier de Graaf believes that Rama "started with sincere intentions" the great transformation of Albania and that good projects have been implemented.

As an example, he cites the Mangalem 21 housing project, which he built in Tirana. It consists of 1.200 apartments (with medium rents), spread out in colorful blocks around green squares.

But in recent years he sees "a process of concentration of power."

“Initially we submitted plans to the municipality. After a legal change in 2024, we now report to the state agency AZHT, which reports directly to the prime minister.”

With his letter he wanted to discuss the relationship between architecture and power; he writes frequently on this topic, where irony is his trademark.

“Irony is a means of being critical without automatically making you unable to work anywhere or ruining everything,” says De Graaf.

His studio is currently working on a project to transform the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in Tirana, where it is planned to add two towers to the stadium.

Rama reacted on the Flasim podcast to the controversy surrounding the book.

He said that “the text has been misinterpreted and used as part of an ‘inquisition’ against the publication.”

He added that De Graaf's letter shows precisely that there is room for criticism.

Because of all this fuss, last week De Graaf published a second letter in the Tirana Times, in which he explains that his first letter was satire.

Pllumbi and Millona do not attach importance to this explanation.

Millona says: “In Albania, we have long understood that architecture and power are linked to each other.”