Edi Rama is the prime minister of Albania and a gifted storyteller who wants to reinvent his country through architecture. The new book, *The Albanian Files*, showcases the contributions of 60 international architecture firms to this effort.
Isabella Marboe, genau!
The Albanian Files, Freedom and Architecture, Anneke Abhelakh (ed.), foreword by Edi Rama with contributions from 60 architectural studios, 796 pages, ca 1500 illustrations, paperback, Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich 2026 → jetzt bestellen
Albania is a fertile ground for international star architecture. The blurb for The Albanian Files: Freedom and Architecture, published by Lars Müller Publishers, lists 60 prominent international firms. All of them have designed, planned, or implemented projects for and in Albania. Many were personally contacted by Edi Rama, the charismatic prime minister.
Skanderbeg-square by 51N4E, © 51N4E
New Narratives
Aires Mateus e Associados, Álvaro Siza: These are the names that kick off the list of teams that have been shaping Albania’s urban and natural landscapes since the early 2000s. The spectrum ranges from hand-drawn sketches to high-rises and large-scale urban development projects.
It is fitting that the letter “A” is so prolific: Albania, architecture—and big names with which a great story can be told. The story of a country isolated by dictator Enver Hoxha that is reinventing itself through significant architecture and international firms. Local architectural firms, by contrast, appear almost exclusively as partners.
The Besa Museeum, by Oppenheim Architecture, © Oppenheim Architecture
Surveillance and Control
In the foreword, Rama reminds us that in Albania, the word “file” has long stood for surveillance and control. The dossiers in this book, he says, are the opposite: traces of encounters between architects and Albania, “tools for envisioning possible future scenarios.” The question is simply whether architecture should follow people rather than history.
Spanning 793 pages, the book compiles projects and perspectives almost like a phone book. The conditions under which they arise and the realities they create are left out. For The Albanian Files is, above all, a showcase of what has been planned and built in recent decades—and that is a great deal.
Research for Museum of Navigation, Shkodra (under construction,2025), Image courtesy of Casanova + Hernandez Architects
Competitions and Influence
Editor Anneke Abhelakh places this development in a political context: After the end of the dictatorship in 1992, she writes, space itself became a political act. Under Edi Rama, urban development and government work have become closely intertwined. Since the early 2000s, international competitions have brought numerous foreign architects to the country. This development, Abhelakh writes, raises questions about exchange, influence, and “who speaks and who is heard.”
The book does not provide answers to these questions, but it poses the same questions to every firm: How did you end up in Albania? How does the work there differ from your usual context? How does collaboration with local firms work? What opportunities and challenges does the country offer? The answers are among the most insightful parts of the volume.
The Albanian Files, Freedom and Architecture,
Anneke Abhelakh (ed.),
Foreword by Edi Rama
with contributions from 60 architectural studios
Design: Haller Brun
22,5 × 30 cm
796 pages, ca 1500 illustrations
paperback
Lars Müller Publishers
Zurich 2026
ISBN 2026, 978-3-03778-800-4
