Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania

Abstract Heritage conservation provides economic, cultural and social benefits to urban communities. The building conservation role has changed from preservation to being part of a broader strategy for urban regeneration process and sustainable development. Heritage buildings are vital in for transf...

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Autores principales:	Armand Vokshi, Elfrida Shehu, Sokol Dervishi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:	Memory Military architecture Bunkers Cold War museum Albania Social Sciences H Communities. Classes. Races HT51-1595 Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology HT101-395
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/023103c40dc3424fa539eb4d5e3fd583
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:023103c40dc3424fa539eb4d5e3fd5832021-11-28T12:28:02ZMilitary archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania10.1186/s40410-021-00144-z2195-2701https://doaj.org/article/023103c40dc3424fa539eb4d5e3fd5832021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-021-00144-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2195-2701Abstract Heritage conservation provides economic, cultural and social benefits to urban communities. The building conservation role has changed from preservation to being part of a broader strategy for urban regeneration process and sustainable development. Heritage buildings are vital in for transferring the cultural identity for upcoming generations. Where heritage buildings can no longer function with its original use, proposing a new function is necessary to preserve the significance of the heritage building. This study aims to explore the fascinating dialogue between totalitarian regimes introduced in two museums adapted within the anti-nuclear bunkers in Tirana. The architectural projects of the museum aim to preserve the identity of their interior. While the careful architectural intervention is necessary to create the atmosphere of totalitarian ideology, in many cases we have to do with the continuity of existing architectural and urban elements in these particular projects. The work explores two museums, BuncArt 1 and BunkArt 2, quite interesting reflection of the parts of history, during the years of world wars and the period of dictatorship of communism, with the facilities and elements exhibited there. In the meantime, thereafter, one can speak of a longer period for the period of the communist regime extending from 1945 to 1990. The impact of communist ideology, coming from the communist bloc of the East, also affects architecture and urban studies in Albania. In some respects, we have a silent follow-up to the monumental interventions that were made before the end of World War II. Another important element was the radical intervention in the bunkers in the territory and in the cities. Their quantity is considered with an amount of 700 thousand pieces. They were different in size and were seen more as defence-related parts rather than as a direct link to the new realist-socialist architecture. The return of some of them to the exhibition space was a good step to revitalize them. Currently they have been transformed into successful tourist attractions. Visitors come to perceive three important elements: (1) attractive military engineering, carried out in contrast to the challenges of the time, (2) the suffocating atmosphere during the communist dictatorship, which required extreme safeguards, (3) elements and historical facts of the World War period, as important elements during the Cold War. An ambitious third project, which is expected to be implemented in the future, is the conversion of the Pashaliman Naval Base in Vlora into another important military museum. This port was originally set up by mid-Fifties, by Russian troops, to have control over the Adriatic. The port is currently part of the military, thought to turn into a strong tourist pole.Armand VokshiElfrida ShehuSokol DervishiSpringerOpenarticleMemoryMilitary architectureBunkersCold War museumAlbaniaSocial SciencesHCommunities. Classes. RacesHT51-1595Urban groups. The city. Urban sociologyHT101-395ENCity, Territory and Architecture, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Memory Military architecture Bunkers Cold War museum Albania Social Sciences H Communities. Classes. Races HT51-1595 Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology HT101-395
spellingShingle	Memory Military architecture Bunkers Cold War museum Albania Social Sciences H Communities. Classes. Races HT51-1595 Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology HT101-395 Armand Vokshi Elfrida Shehu Sokol Dervishi Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania
description	Abstract Heritage conservation provides economic, cultural and social benefits to urban communities. The building conservation role has changed from preservation to being part of a broader strategy for urban regeneration process and sustainable development. Heritage buildings are vital in for transferring the cultural identity for upcoming generations. Where heritage buildings can no longer function with its original use, proposing a new function is necessary to preserve the significance of the heritage building. This study aims to explore the fascinating dialogue between totalitarian regimes introduced in two museums adapted within the anti-nuclear bunkers in Tirana. The architectural projects of the museum aim to preserve the identity of their interior. While the careful architectural intervention is necessary to create the atmosphere of totalitarian ideology, in many cases we have to do with the continuity of existing architectural and urban elements in these particular projects. The work explores two museums, BuncArt 1 and BunkArt 2, quite interesting reflection of the parts of history, during the years of world wars and the period of dictatorship of communism, with the facilities and elements exhibited there. In the meantime, thereafter, one can speak of a longer period for the period of the communist regime extending from 1945 to 1990. The impact of communist ideology, coming from the communist bloc of the East, also affects architecture and urban studies in Albania. In some respects, we have a silent follow-up to the monumental interventions that were made before the end of World War II. Another important element was the radical intervention in the bunkers in the territory and in the cities. Their quantity is considered with an amount of 700 thousand pieces. They were different in size and were seen more as defence-related parts rather than as a direct link to the new realist-socialist architecture. The return of some of them to the exhibition space was a good step to revitalize them. Currently they have been transformed into successful tourist attractions. Visitors come to perceive three important elements: (1) attractive military engineering, carried out in contrast to the challenges of the time, (2) the suffocating atmosphere during the communist dictatorship, which required extreme safeguards, (3) elements and historical facts of the World War period, as important elements during the Cold War. An ambitious third project, which is expected to be implemented in the future, is the conversion of the Pashaliman Naval Base in Vlora into another important military museum. This port was originally set up by mid-Fifties, by Russian troops, to have control over the Adriatic. The port is currently part of the military, thought to turn into a strong tourist pole.
format	article
author	Armand Vokshi Elfrida Shehu Sokol Dervishi
author_facet	Armand Vokshi Elfrida Shehu Sokol Dervishi
author_sort	Armand Vokshi
title	Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania
title_short	Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania
title_full	Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania
title_fullStr	Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania
title_full_unstemmed	Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania
title_sort	military archaeology and contemporary reality in albania
publisher	SpringerOpen
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/023103c40dc3424fa539eb4d5e3fd583
work_keys_str_mv	AT armandvokshi militaryarchaeologyandcontemporaryrealityinalbania AT elfridashehu militaryarchaeologyandcontemporaryrealityinalbania AT sokoldervishi militaryarchaeologyandcontemporaryrealityinalbania
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Military archaeology and contemporary reality in Albania

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