Pyramid of Tirana

Coordinates: 41°19′24.28″N 19°49′16.49″E / 41.3234111°N 19.8212472°E / 41.3234111; 19.8212472

Pyramid of Tirana
Alternative names Enver Hoxha Museum
General information
Town or city Tirana
Country Albania
Opened October 14, 1988
Design and construction
Architect Pirro Vaso, Klement Kolaneci, Pranvera Hoxha, and Vladimir Bregu

The Pyramid of Tirana (Albanian: Piramida) is a structure and former museum located in Tirana, Albania.

Background

Opened on October 14, 1988 as the Enver Hoxha Museum, the structure served as a museum about the legacy of Enver Hoxha, the long-time leader of Communist Albania who had died three-years earlier. The structure was co-designed by Hoxha's daughter Panvera Hoxha, an architect, her husband Klement Kolaneci, along with Pirro Vaso and Vladimir Bregu.[1] At the time, the Pyramid was said to be the most expensive individual structure ever constructed in Albania.[2][3] Some sources have referred to it as the "Enver Hoxha Mausoleum" although this was never its official appellation.[4]

Post-Communism

After 1991, following the collapse of Communism, the Pyramid ceased its function as a museum and for several years was purposed as a conference center and exhibition venue, and was also re-branded with its current name. During the 1999 Kosovo War, the museum was used as a base by NATO and humanitarian organizations.[5] Since 2001, part of the Pyramid has been used as broadcasting center by Albanian TV channel Top Channel, while rest of the structure and the paved surrounding area (currently being used as a parking lot and bus station for minivans to Elbasan) have experienced dilapidation and vandalism.[6]

In 2011, part of Armando Lulaj's film It Wears as it Grows was shot inside the Pyramid.

Possible demolition

Numerous proposals to demolish the Pyramid and to redevelop the land of the 17,000m² complex for alternative uses have been made, with the most prominent proposal being the potential construction of a new Albanian parliament building on the site.[7][8][9] A prior proposal for the site becoming a new opera theatre was approved but cancelled shortly after construction works began - the exterior marble tiles delivered to the site were removed and seen in a depot outside of Tirana.[10] However, division has arisen over the Pyramid's demolition among some leading foreign architects, who have both supported and opposed it. Historian Ardian Klosi initiated a petition against the demolition of the structure which gathered around 6000 signatures.

References

  1. ↑ "Kolaneci: Forma e Piramidës, në harmoni me malin e Dajtit" [Kolaneci: Form of the Pyramid, in harmony with the mountain of Dajtit] (in Albanian). 2009-12-03.
  2. ↑ Janine Schueller (2014-11-23). "The Pyramid | Sights | Tirana". Inyourpocket.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  3. ↑ "Pyramid in Tirana, Albania". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  4. ↑ "Раздел "Вопросы, ответы, комментарии" сайта "Энвер Ходжа. Его жизнь и работа". Страница 2". Enverhoxha.ru. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  5. ↑ Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good (2008). Postcolonial disorders:Volume 8 of Ethnographic Studies in Subjectivity. University of California Press. p. 169. ISBN 0-520-25224-1.
  6. ↑ Morton, Ella (2014-01-28). "The fight to preserve Albania's ugly Pyramid of Tirana". Slate.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  7. ↑ "Cultural and Sports: should Pyramid be torn down?". Southeast European Times. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  8. ↑ "Mblidhet komisioni shteteror për ndërtimin e parlamentit te ri". Shtypi i Dites (in Albanian). Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  9. ↑ "Parlamenti i ri i Shqipërisë, 17 mijë metra katrorë - Shqipëri - Lajme - Koha Net". Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Piramida që ha paratë e shqiptarëve". YouTube. 2009-09-26. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
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