Porto Palermo carries, within one of the most distinctive landscapes of the Ionian coast, the traces of two very different histories. On one side stand the Castle of Ali Pasha of Tepelena and the historic landscape of the bay; on the other, a military infrastructure built during the Cold War, at a time when Albania was experiencing one of the deepest periods of isolation in its history.
The Submarine Tunnel and the former military base of Porto Palermo belong to this more recent layer of heritage. Built for a military purpose and for a political reality that no longer exists, these structures have lost much of their original function, yet remain as physical witnesses to a significant and difficult period in the country’s history.
Today, there is an opportunity to give them a new role.
Initiated by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, with the support of the Albanian Government, the International Design Competition for Porto Palermo seeks to explore the transformation of this Cold War infrastructure into an infrastructure of memory, culture and public experience, opening it to the publicand integrating it into the broader experience of Porto Palermo Bay.
At the heart of the competition is the musealisation of the Submarine Tunnel and its transformation into a museum dedicated to the Cold War and to the history embodied by this extraordinary piece of infrastructure. The former military barracks will be brought back into use to support the operation of the Museum and the wider visitor experience, including the possibility of staying for one or several days within the structures of the former base itself. The ambition is not to create a conventional coastal tourism destination, but a form of hospitality intimately connected to the history, culture and landscape of Porto Palermo, and to the curiosity and sense of adventure that come with inhabiting such a place.
This transformation takes place within a setting that is both exceptional and fragile. The bay, its terrestrial landscape and marine environment form part of a protected area; Porto Palermo Castle is already an important cultural destination; while part of the former military complex will continue to be used periodically by the Albanian Naval Forces. The proposal should understand these realities not as separate conditions, but as different layers of the same territorial experience.
The competition calls for an integrated vision for the Tunnel, the former base and their relationship with the landscape and Porto Palermo Bay. Physical interventions will be concentrated within the designated areas of the former military complex, while the proposal should think beyond these boundaries, shaping a visitor experience that connects the Museum with Porto Palermo Castle, the small coves, the landscape and the wider network of cultural and historic assets in the surrounding territory.
The challenge is to transform a place once conceived to remain hidden, closed and protected into a place to be discovered, where history can be read, the landscape can be experienced, and Porto Palermo can acquire a new life without losing what makes it irreplaceable.
