Why a Theatre’s Demolition Has Sparked Outrage in Albania – Balkan Insight

Armed with automatic weapons, riot gear and black ski masks, the Albanian police and Special Forces units moved under the cover of darkness in the early hours of Sunday when the capital was sleeping and stormed the premises of the National Theater in Tirana, detaining a handful of artists and activists that had barricaded themselves in there.

The activists were forcibly put into police vans and detained, while a bulldozer moved in to turn the building into rubble, before dawn broke and the citys residents awoke to discover the nighttime raid.

Built between 1938 and 1939, during the Italian occupation of Albania, the National Theatre Complex was first built as a cultural centre. Designed by the Italian architect Gulio Berte, it was originally named the Skanderbeg, after Albanias national hero, and comprised two parallel buildings, housing a cinema and a theatre, divided by a pool.

In 2018, the government proposed to demolish the historic building and replace it with a new theatre designed by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, through a Public Private Partnership, PPP, scheme with a Tirana-based developer and government contractor, Fusha Sh.p.k. Under the proposed concessionary agreement, Fusha sh.p.k would build Ingels project in exchange for public land and the right to construct six tower blocks adjunct to the new theatre, worth 119 million euros.

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Why a Theatre's Demolition Has Sparked Outrage in Albania - Balkan Insight