Just a year ago, the Municipality of Tirana proudly presented it as one of the most innovative public space projects. “Tirana Moons”, an urban library designed to promote outdoor reading, was inaugurated amidst propaganda for the “Erion Veliaj model”, as an example of a modern city that invests in culture and public spaces.
The installation was placed in Mother Teresa Square, near the Polytechnic University and the University of the Arts. The project was conceived by Austrian architect Chris Precht and aimed to create an environment where citizens could read books in a covered space, surrounded by greenery, away from the noise of the city.
In the first months after its inauguration, “Tirana Moons” attracted the attention of citizens and tourists. The municipality took care of its maintenance and the project was widely promoted as a success of urban transformation.
But just a year later, the picture is completely different.
The greenery that was part of the architectural concept has almost completely dried up. The plants that were supposed to transform this space into a reading oasis have turned into dry branches, while the contrast between the presented project and today's reality is obvious.
The photos provided show that the investment made in thousands of euros risks degrading due to lack of maintenance.
The Municipality of Tirana now has two alternatives: either spend public money again to restore greenery, as happened previously with the pine trees along the Tirana-Durres highway, or let the project degrade until it completely loses the function for which it was built.
“Tirana Moons” also raises a broader question: are projects built to serve citizens in the long term, or just for the inauguration ceremony and first-day photos?
