Edi Rama, the painter who became prime minister and is now playing the role of curator of national architecture, in an interview with Dezeen, a British media outlet based in London, explained how Albania does not need political summits – an architecture festival and some "love stories" between architects and the Albanian mountains are enough.
In Tirana, every corner has become a stage for a tower, and Rama is happy: "We are not Dubai, we are Tirana," he says, as colorful buildings spring up like mushrooms after the rain.
Rama promises that after all these architectural experiments, in 10 years we will have “our Albanian Bjarke Ingels.” Until then, it seems we will continue to enjoy the urban spectacle that Rama calls love, and critics call… the Albanian archdrama.
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Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama explains why he pays so much attention to architecture in this exclusive interview with Dezz. The media describes how, from a small Balkan nation, Albania has suddenly become a hotbed of contemporary architecture – with major projects being carried out by renowned international studios such as MVRDV, BIG and Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura.
"An architecture festival is more important than a political summit"
Speaking to Dezeen from his office in Tirana, Rama expressed his belief in the power of architecture to bring about positive change in Albania.
“I believe strongly in architecture and its power to influence the way we live,” he said.
“I think that for a country like Albania, good architecture is an inspiring presence – a source of additional energy for society and for the way we envision the future.”
Rama, unlike most world leaders, has a particular interest in architecture. He reveals that he is a regular reader of Dezeen, where he has discovered architects currently working in Albania, and recently organized the first edition of the “Bread & Heart” architecture festival in Tirana.
"For me, an architecture festival is more important than a political summit," he told Dezeen. "It's a celebration that encompasses everything else."
Rama said he contributed to the festival because he believes that architects should have a greater role in the development of cities and countries, expressing regret for the profession's loss of influence at the highest levels of politics.
"Architecture, which for centuries has been important in the progress of the world, no longer has the place it once had in the affairs of countries, in the affairs of leaders," Rama said.
"This is unfortunate, because architecture can help a lot. If it's not good, it can also have a bad effect."
"I was shocked when I saw the pyramid at the Louvre"
Rama has been Albania's prime minister for 13 years and was previously mayor of Tirana. During his term as mayor, he initiated the city's transformation by demolishing informal settlements.
“This period, along with the experience of discovering international architecture after the fall of communism in 1990, greatly influenced my way of thinking about architecture,” he said.
"As mayor, I went through a very difficult period, demolishing over 10,000 illegal buildings and trying to figure out what to do with the rest. I realized that good architecture can change direction in many ways – not just how we build, but how we think about our common life, about our shared space, and about the future of our country."
“I grew up in a regime that isolated us from the rest of the world, where architecture was purely functional,” Rama continued.
“And then, when I saw the world, I was shocked to experience the Louvre pyramid – the coexistence of two completely different eras, of two ways of thinking about architecture in a single space.”
"We want a love story between architects and Albania"
Several bold buildings are under construction in Tirana, designed by renowned studios such as MVRDV, Stefano Boeri Architetti, OMA, and Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura.
Rama wants the architecture of this new wave of development to be unique to Albania.
“When we talk about identity, we try to tell architects that we want buildings that connect with the intelligence of the territory,” he said.
"We don't want generic or global architecture. We don't want beautiful buildings that belong simply to the world and not to us at all. We want buildings that belong simultaneously to us and the world."
"We don't want stars that fall from the sky and turn into monuments. We want love stories between architects and Albania."
"In Tirana there are buildings that you can't imagine in Rome or Paris"
Some buildings take direct inspiration from national identity, like the Skanderbeg Building, which is based on the head of the national hero, or Downtown One Tirana, which has a pixelated map of Albania on its facade.
Rama expresses his admiration for the way international architects have embraced the idea of creating buildings that reflect the country's history and transformation from communist isolation to the uncontrolled economy of the 1990s.
"The country has gone from brutal isolation and strict functionalism, to a period of illegal interference from all sides," he said.
“And this is the material that international architects work with, so we have to give them credit for respecting this as 'site intelligence.'”
"Yes, we should be happy that today in Albania there are buildings that, on the one hand, are worthy of international publications, but on the other hand, you cannot imagine them in Rome, Paris or Amsterdam."
"Tirana is not the new Dubai"
According to Rama, he has often had to explain directly to architects and developers what he wants to achieve with the development of Tirana.
"I showed an architect a building and said, 'It's very beautiful, but it can't be built here – it belongs to Dubai.'"
And he said to me: 'So Tirana is the new Dubai?'
I said: 'no, Tirana is not the new Dubai. Tirana is Tirana'.
I said, 'Come talk to the mountain, listen to the river, try to understand what the earth whispers to you, look at the trees, look at the people, eat something, drink something, and then let's see what comes out – this is true spirit.'"
"In 10 years we will have our star"
Rama is proud of the large number of renowned architects working in Albania today, whom he calls "Albania's architectural army."
“We have a large portion of the 'cream' of today's architects, and it's touching, exciting to see names approaching us – names that we once would never have imagined seeing here,” he said.
“They want to work with us, to be part of this experience – part of what we have christened the ‘architectural army of Albania.’”
He believes that this collaboration will influence the new generation of Albanian architects and that very soon the country will have its own architectural "star".
“I think we have the biggest open university of architecture, because all the young Albanian architects are working with these big names. So I believe that in 10 years we will have our star – we will have our Bjarke [Ingels]. Why not?”
https://www.dezeen.com/2025/10/29/edi-rama-interview-albania-architecture/
