PRACTICAL CONSERVATION GUIDELINES FOR TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS IN HIMARA COASTAL VILLAGES

The National Spatial Plan (GNSP) provides the strategic reference framework for sustainable territorial development for the next 15 years, in order to ensure balanced economic and social national development, responsible management of natural resources, environmental protection, all while ensuring the rational land use. The GNSP is introduced not only as fulfillment of a legal obligation, but also as a prerequisite to achieveing the governmental program objectives to enhance citizens’ welfare and national economic growth by reducing inequalities, strengthening the strategic partnership with neighboring countries and implementation of policies that foster competitiveness of economic sectors, thus ensuring integration in the European Union.

The Albanian Government and the National Spatial Plan have identified the Tiranë-Durrës area, as one of the most important economic areas of the country, and of the Balkan region. To ensure a sustainable territorial and urban development of this area, the Ministry of Urban Development in cooperation with the National Territorial Planning Agency has taken the initiative to draft a Cross-sectoral Integrated Plan for the economic area Tiranë – Durrës. The metropolitan region under study includes territories administered by 5 municipalities: Tiranë, Durrës, Vorë, Shijak, Kamëz.

The integrated coastal plan is a strategic document which aims to develop a balanced, controlled, and sustainable coastal area. This strategic document for the next 15 years aims at addressing the coastal space as a well-integrated territory of both the interior territory and the maritime space. It aims at the creation of an integrated and interrelated system of the tourism, culture, agriculture and nature sectors. Diversification of the touristic package of the coast, which will also lead to the extension of the tourist season, while turning the country into an attractive destination.

“Farmers with a View” is the inaugural program of the Atelier Albania Summer Academy, supported by the National Territorial Planning Agency (AKPT) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Corporation for International Cooperation) (GIZ).

Farmers with a View set out to investigate the status of tourism in four mountain villages in the Albanian Riviera—Pilur, Kudhës, Old Qeparo, and Old Himarë. And to figure out why these villages remain impervious to tourist income, while the towns along the beaches below overflow with it. Our goal: catalyze villages toward tourism with sensitive, impactful, low-cost ideas.

The timing of the Summer Academy coincided with the busiest week of the summer season, exposing the stark contrast between the beach towns and the mountain villages. Where below an unbearable pressure for space and services erupts during the high season, the villages above remain intact; empty and waiting. Returning in the first week of September to discover an entire region almost unrecognizable from itself only two weeks before, it felt like we had the Bregdet to ourselves, there were no people to be found. We lived the elation and the disappointment that come with the wild swings in the tourism season, in physical space, and in real time. We think there is great promise for the people in these places to smartly and efficiently begin to bring money into their pockets, with little physical impact. The following pages elaborate our ideas for how we think these four towns could wisely approach their nascent tourism economies.

EVOKED is a visual research on Albanian informal constructions. When in 1990s migratory wave found coastal towns unprepared, the growth of housing needs created a new type of land organization based on a parasitic exploitation along the coast road, where concrete frame buildings popped up. The architectural diptych brings together 16 Albanian and 16 Italian architects who are asked to work on the same photographed construction, to elaborate and manipulate an unfinished house via mixed media artworks. The expected output of this exhibition is a public debate on the informal structures/buildings that make most of the Albanian built environment. There is a need to become aware of this reality that can not be demolished or ignored. Architecture needs to reflect and find out new visions to innovate their relationship with context/ environment/ landscape and ways of occupying/ using/ reusing and even completing the unfinished construction works.

“Where Cold Spring Water Bubbles and Cool Breezes Blow in Summer” is a product of Atelier Albania Summer Academy 2017, that envisions the future of tourism in the Vjosa Valley. 

This book aims to help development professionals, entrepreneurs, and policy-makers visualize a tourism program for the Vjosa Valley that will not undermine its most precious commodity: peace.

The five business plans that follow constitute a carefully tuned program of cultural heritage, culinary excellence, contemporary art, and natural monuments dispersed throughout the valley. Four of the plans are distinct tourism ventures, while the fifth is an umbrella structure that would manage the ventures and oversee their expansion over time. Each business plan presents management protocols, market analyses and strategies, and financial projections.

This approach should be applied to rural tourism planning in Albania at large. This book is specific to the conditions of the Vjosa Valley, but defines values that are applicable to the entire country. Indeed, the following strategy lays out a vision for how to think about the future of what village life itself should be. 

Vlora is one of the most beautiful coastal urban sites in the Albanian coast. It attracts quite a large number of tourists every season but also during the entire year, especially during weekends. These are facts that make Vlora receive a lot of public attention. Therefore the design of the Waterfront promenade should be a product of not a single designer or a single studio. It should be a product of a collective public opinion through an instrument that ensures the expression of interest of many designers, finalized by an open and transparent selection of the wide public facilitated by the local and international expertise.

An international, open, one stage, [partly] anonymous urban design competition would be the right instrument to guarantee the aimed product. The call for participation will be open to all national and international designers, but also to team of about to graduate students of architecture, urban design or landscape design programs. There will be awarded two winning prizes, one for the best design and the other for the best local team/designer. The winner that will be contracted to execute the design will be a team composed of those two winners, the best design winning team and the best local team/designer. The final product will be negotiated between them and the promoter (implementing unit/ Atelier Albania). The city of Vlora, as the beneficiary, will be active and part of the process throughout its duration.

The purpose of the competition is to generate ideas that will lead to urban improvement detailed projects as well as public and/or private interventions. These will help each area foster a better identity while at the same time improve the area’s connection and interrelation with all of its surroundings. The competition for southern coastal strip and its close settlements stems from the need to improve the urban condition and the use of the touristic area along the strip, as well as the connections that link the coastal strip to the new and old settlements nearby.

The coastal strip is a national asset serving to all local and international tourists. It cuts through many small cities and in this perspective the whole country is the beneficiary, while the communities along the strip and the inhabitants of the old and new settlements will be direct beneficiaries. There is a need to extend the touristic season in order to generate more sustainable income for the region.

The purpose of the competition is to generate ideas that will lead to urban improvement detailed projects and public interventions. These will help each area foster a better identity while at the same time improve the area’s connection and interrelation with all of its surroundings.

The competition for Tirana-Durres corridor stems from the need to improve the urban condition of the area along the corridor. It is one of main circulation axis of Albania that connects the two biggest cities in the country and again connects them both to the airport. It has become an economic corridor that brings large revenue to the country. It cuts through many small cities and in this perspective the whole country is the beneficiary, while the communities along the corridor will be direct beneficiaries. From an organizational perspective the competition slices the Tirana -Durres corridor into three segments/ lots: the area which connects Tirana to the metropolitan highway, the area which connects Durres to the metropolitan highway, and the city of Vora which is split in half by the metropolitan highway.

This competition is based on a test site and is looking for ways of making places resilient. It is using design as a tool to search for best possible solutions of resilience in riverside conditions. It is also looking for ways of developing natural landscapes and defining ‘urban by nature’. Being a test site, it means that the findings of the process can be shared with many other similar context or sites that are at a flooding risk zone and lack features of being resilient. In this perspective, this exercise serves more than the city of Berat. The proposals might become an inspirational source for other sites in Albania or beyond its borders.

The competition for a Master Plan and rehabilitation of “City of Students” comes as a need to improve the physical and functional conditions of the unit “University Student Residences No. 1”, as well as to determine its borders and connections to informal settlements on the outskirts of the “City of Students”. This state residential campus is a national treasure and an asset that serves the majority of students studying in universities and higher education in Tirana. Its physical conditions today, do not allow a variety of forms of accommodation, as well as possible management models that could transform it in a self-financing asset. Today it presents a‘burden’ to the state budget and so it also needs to be re-conceptualized from a financial logic perspective. But the re-conceptualization of new management models is closely linked to the spatial and architectural re-conception of the “City of Students”. At the end of this initiated process,we believe that the “City of Students” will be transformed into a very attractive students’ destination, which will serve to more students and will be a model that can be self-financed.

The entry to Lake Park for years has been the subject of several project initiatives. It has constantly been in search of for the best way to connect with the city through an intermediate space, but it also requires an image,or emblem as an entry into the Park. Questions about directly treating the Lake Park entrance generate from its positioning by one of the edges of the Boulevard “Martyrs of the Nation” and the direct link to the “Mother Teresa” Square. Regardless of the fact that Tirana Park is located so close to these two main areas of the capital, the connection between them remains quite weak. On the other hand, “Mother Teresa” Square has the need for a reorganization, because it is a public space with great potential,but with limited use during time periods of the day, as well as in terms of programmatic variety. Also, in formal terms, “Mother Teresa” Square needs a spatial outline. The master plan of Tirana Center, has proposed connectivity of “Mother Teresa” Square with Boulevard “Martyrs of the Nation” through a program of university facilities, which outline the area of the square and connect with Tirana Park through university buildings.

The competition for re-designing the New Headquarters of the Supreme Court and the School of Magistrates will search for best design solution for the accommodation of these two functions/ institutions by improving the current conditions of the existing site and optimizing the institutional operation. The two institutions – Supreme Court and the School of Magistrates – are direct beneficiaries of the initiative, while the citizens of Albania will benefit through the improved function of the juridical system.

The development dynamics of the country during the last 25 years, the profound socio-economic transformations, the lengthy and complex process of the transition from a more than half a century long dictatorship to democracy, imposes the continuation of reforms in the field of justice, aiming to achieve the standards of western democracy. In this context, not only new premises are required, but it is also necessary to bring into focus the proximity of the highest juridical authorities with the academic environment.

The edifices that are subjected to the design and curatorial call for proposals, comprise the four buildings: Palace of Brigades, National Historic Museum, Villa of the ex-communist party leader, former League of Writers and Artists. The intended Cultural Quartet is located in the capital city of Tirana, within a radius of 1km.

The competition is seeking to incorporate historic preservation as a creative hands-on approach towards place making, by both strengthening the connection between community and the historic building-stock they share. Therefore the adaptive reuse of the buildings and monuments for various functions (education, exhibition, social and community services, cultural activities) is looking forward to maximizing the shared value, particularly paying attention to the physical, cultural and social identities that define the place and its future transformations. The intervention includes rehabilitation of existing infrastructure (upgrading or provision of services when deemed necessary) and restoration of the needed components. Adaptive re-use of the buildings needs a powerful programmatic or procedural vision how they could play again an important role in civic and cultural life of Tirana. The goal would be to develop programmatic scenarios which make use of the existing spaces as much as possible and only transform them whenever the proposed strategy finds it relevant.

In 2005 the city of Gjirokastra, otherwise identified as the “Stone-City”, is declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The castle, which dates back in the beginning of XIV century, is considered to be first nucleus of the city and forms the centre of the urban composition. The other part of the city lays in a sloppy terrain, which becomes a predominant factor in defining the dynamic character of the city. Terrain diversity has influenced the compositional design of neighborhoods as separate units.

It is the purpose of this competition that through the design of the Bypass Road, to make the Bazaar area a pedestrianized quarter which historical character and elements will not be threatened any longer by car traffic. Through this project and its subsequent implementation, the mobility issues of historic centre of Gjirokastra will get an answer through design and not simply by engineering solutions as it is usually the case. The construction of this new circulation ring must be well integrated with the existing road system/pattern of the city, as well as it must assure the preservation and conservation of all historical, cultural and landscape values of Historical Centre and Protected Area of the city of Gjirokastra. The bypass when implemented will serve to all citizens and visitors of Gjirokastra, as well as it will keep the historical centre activities undisturbed by the traffic.

This competition is built on the theme of faith and religious harmony, being values that Albanians would like to show and share with the entire world. A different public space quality is going to be achieved through this competition and when implemented it will be used by the citizens of Tirana,who as Mediterranean live a lot outdoors, by visitors that might travel to learn about Albania and Albanian culture and particularly experience the religious harmony that defines us among other values.The area of the competition at focus is displayed in the competition site

map and comprises a series of open/public spaces, positioned alongside the edges of Boulevard “Martyrs of the Nation”. The scope of this competition furthermore includes other potential public spaces, gardens and parks throughout the city. The very center of the ‘Tirana Park of Faith’ will be the open space that surrounds the ‘Pyramid’, as well as the ‘Pyramid’ serving as a starting point and destination.

During August – December 2018, 22 dedicated working groups studied carefully all of the 22 groups of villages, and worked to produce development models for each and one of them. The working groups identified the potential of the villages, be it their human capacities, as well as their physical elements related to traditions, heritage, and landscape. All these features were re-evaluated in the light of developing rural tourism and its components – agritourism, ecotourism, and nature attractions. This material showcases just the tip of the iceberg as far as the output of the Academy is concerned. The complete work of each group of the Academy is to be published soon. Each and every one of the villages, and all regions will have their own dedicated publication complete with solutions towards development and prosperity.

The 100+ Villages Academy is a project of the Albanian Government, initiated by the Office of the Prime Minister and implemented by the National Territory Planning Agency (NTPA), in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Tourism and Environment (MTE), the Ministry of Culture (MC), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy (MIE), the Agency for Agricultural and Rural Development (AARD), and the Albanian Development Fund (ADF). This project is part of the “100 Villages” National Rural Development Programme, which focuses on building development models for each of the villages according to their tourism potential.

[Translate to English:] Për herë të parë në historinë e shtetit modern shqiptar, planifikimi i territorit ka marrë një vëmendje të këtij niveli, si nga pikëpamja e angazhimit të pushtetit qendror për mbështetje financiare, ashtu edhe nga ajo e pushtetit vendor për të hartuar dokumentin e drejtimit të zhvillimit të territorit në administrim lokal. Për herë të parë ne arrijmë nivele të tilla të mbulimit të territorit të Shqipërisë me dokumente planifikimi. Për herë të parë arrijmë një shkallë të tillë njohje të territorit.

[Translate to English:] Akademia 100+ Fshatrat është një sipërmarrje e Qeverisë Shqiptare, iniciuar nga Zyra e Kryeministrit,e cila zbatohet nga Agjencia Kombëtare e Planifikimit të Territorit (AKPT), në bashkëpunim të ngushtëme Ministrinë e Bujqësisë dhe Zhvillimit Rural (MBZHR), Ministrinë e Turizmit dhe Mjedisit (MTM),Ministrinë e Kulturës (MK), Ministrinë e Infrastrukturës dhe Energjisë (MIE), Agjencinë për ZhvillimBujqësor dhe Rural (AZHBR) dhe Fondin Shqiptar të Zhvillimit (FSHZH). Kjo nismë vjen në zbatim tëProgramit Kombëtar të Zhvillimit Rural "100 Fshatrat" me objekt kryesor hartimin e modeleve të zhvillimit për secilin prej tyre, bazuar tek potenciali turistik.

Në kuadër të Programit 100+ Fshatrat, Agjencia Kombëtare e Planifikimit të Territorit ka filluar përgatitjen e një materiali prezantues të secilit fshat, në formën e një kartoline. Materiali synon promovimin e fshatrave, duke nxjerrë në pah potencialet e tyre, pikat e atraksionit, projektet e aplikuara në to dhe ide të reja për projekte bazuar në mundësitë që të ofron fshati. Materiali bashkëlidhur është mbi 100+ Fshatrat. 

The book Five Albanian Villages: Guidelines for sustainable tourism development through the enhancement of the cultural heritage is the key product of the research project “The Diaspora as a Resource for the Knowledge, Preservation and Enhancement of the Lesser-Known Cultural Sites in Albania”. The research took place under the International Organization for Migration (IOM) programme “Engage the Albanian Diaspora to the Social and Economic Development of Albania”, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and implemented in partnership with the Albanian Government.What makes this complex research unique is that it was conducted by Albanian Diaspora undergraduate students and young researchers of the School of Architecture at the University of Florence, Italy. They worked under the professional guidance of Prof. Antonio Lauria on five selected case study villages: Bënjë, Kosinë and Leusë, in the Municipality of Përmet; Zvërnec, a coastal village in the Municipality of Vlorë and Razëm, a mountain village at the foothills of the Albanian Alps in the Municipality of Malësi e Madhe, to analyze the opportunities that these villages have for sustainable and inclusive social territorial development processes using their tangible and intangible cultural heritage as leverage.
This reasearch stands perfectly within the framework of the "100 Villages" Program.

This report has been financed under the World Bank–Austria Urban Partnership Program in collaboration with the Project for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development.
This report was coordinated by the World Bank Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice (GSURR) ECA team including Tamara Nikolic (Operations Officer), Tuo Shi (Urban Economist), and Anita Ellmauer-Klambauer (Junior Professional Officer). Operational support was provided by Odeta Bulo of the Tirana Office and Marco Gallardo in Washington, DC. The team thanks David Sislen (Practice Manager, Europe and Central Asia) for his managerial support and technical advice.
The report was prepared by a team from Superwien urbanism ZT OG in cooperation with Technical University Vienna (TU Wien) and the Albanian National Territorial Planning Agency (AKPT/ NTPA).
The preparation of this report benefited immensely from the Urban Design Lab approach and participatory planning exercises that took place in the town of Ksamil, municipality of Saranda, Albania. The report particularly benefited from the discussions with different stakeholders, including schools, students, local businesses, and administration.
The team would like to thank in particular Roland Krebs (Urban Planner), technical lead from superwien urbanism ZT OG and his team, including Stefan Mayr, Mara Haas, Kerstin Pluch, Chiara Desbordes, Aknur Zhussip, and Katharina Höftberger. The TU Wien team was led by Markus Tomaselli (Professor) and comprised Mamica Burda and Georgi Kharitonashivili, and the National Territorial Planning Agency team was led by Adelina Greca (Director) and comprised Doris Alimerko, Irola Andoni, and Mikel Tanini. Nermin Bajrami and Derek Thor Cary provided further contributions to the report. We would also like to acknowledge inputs to the report provided by the following students of TU Wien: Dejan Çoba, Ingo Fenzl, Adil Goletic, Julia-Su Gürsu, Shkëlqim Ismali, Rubina Kaiser, Nora Lika, Shkëlqim Maliqi, Aiger Rica, Armin Rusiti, and Genita Salihaj.
The team thanks the Albanian government for its cooperation in carrying out this research, in particular the team of the National Territorial Planning Agency (AKPT/NTPA) , as well as Fabjola Mecaj from the Albanian Development Fund; Astrit Alikaj from the Project Coordination Unit in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy; as well as Valbona Oruci, Administrator of Ksamil; and Ariel Balani, Planning Coordinator of Ksamil. Finally, the team is grateful to many individuals in Ksamil who provided input and shared their insights about the town.

This report, conducted by the Master’s students of the Technische Universität Berlin’s Urban Management program in cooperation with the GIZ - Gesellschaft fu?r Internationale Zusammenarbeit, examines strategies of sustainable heritage conservation for the Albanian villages of Vuno and Qeparo.

With this report we (TU Berlin + GIZ) wish to stimulate and contribute to an emerging discussion in Albania regarding the development of creative, sustainable models for conserving the country’s rich cultural heritage and revitalizing village communities. Our intention is twofold. First, by elaborating on general principles of conservation in combination with a broad collection of concrete and successful international case-studies, we wish to inspire regional stakeholders to learn from elsewhere as they work to define local solutions. Second, we hope that our proposal for the historic villages of Vuno and Qeparo - a Village Conservation Model based on the development of a Conservation Lab and dispersed Village Hotel - will be a constructive start to the preservation of the villages of Albania’s southern coastal region.

Rizky Pratama Adhi, Moutasem Al Khnaifes, Ayse Merve Altinsoy, Haitham Audi, Mohammad Masoud Azimi, Comfort Badaru, Daniela Bonilla E., Katherine Cashman, Clémence Chapus, Efrosini Collazos, Lucas Counter, Ella Dodson, Daniel Escobar, Elizaveta Fakirova, Sofia Fernandez Rosso, Estefania Giesecke, Patricia Guena Trottenberg, Zaharatul Hasanah, Shankar Narayanan Iyer, Marcelo Julião de Seixas, Shadi Mehrpour, Daniela Nieto Lopez, João Rett Lemos.

Edited by Emily Bereskin and Christian Haid.

Hartimi dhe miratimi i Planeve të Përgjithshme Vendore (PPV) pasohet nga zbatimi i tyre nëpërmjet projekteve strategjike të zhvillimit, investimeve publike, hartimit dhe miratimit të Planeve të Detajuara Vendore (PDV), lejeve të ndërtimit, e të tjera të ngjashme.

Çdo dokument i planifikimit të përgjithshëm vendor është i përbërë nga detaje orientuese për zbatimin e tij. Zbatimi i planeve duhet të monitorohet në vazhdimësi nga secila bashki dhe sipas rezultateve të monitorimit të zbatimit, duhet të merren masat përkatëse.

Agjencia Kombëtare e Planifikimit të Territorit (AKPT) ka përgjegjësi ligjore të monitorojë zbatimin e dokumenteve të planifikimit në bashkëpunim me bashkitë dhe të raportojë pranë Ministrisë së linjës, Këshillit Kombëtar të Territorit dhe Këshillit të Ministrave për rezultatet e monitorimit dhe masave respektive që duhet të ndërmerren, sipas rastit nga qeverisja qendore apo ajo vendore.

AKPT ka hartuar Platformën e Monitorimit të Zbatimit të Dokumenteve të Planifikimit, e cila do të shërbejë si bazë për monitorimin, pas miratimit dhe hyrjes në fuqi të saj.

Përgatitur për Agjencinë e Shteteve të Bashkuara për Zhvillimin ndërkombëtar sipas Kontratës së USAID me Nr. AID-182-C-12-00001, Projekti i Planifikimit dhe Qeverisjes Vendore (PLGP).
Ky dokument ofron alternativa politikash për zbatimin e gjashtë instrumenteve financiare (d.m.th, për rritje të ardhurash) për zhvillimin e tokës, që mund të jenë të përshtatshme për Shqipërinë. Ky dokument u hartua nga Projekti i USAID-it për Planifikimin dhe Qeverisjen Vendore me kërkesë të Ministrisë së Zhvillimit Urban. Instrumentet financiare janë të përcaktuara në Ligjin për Planifikimin dhe Zhvillimin e Territorit dhe aktet nënligjore të tij, për t’u përdorur nga NJQV-të për të administruar rritjen urbane dhe rajonale dhe për të financuar infrastrukturën fizike. Ky dokument synon hartuesit e politikave në nivel kombëtar dhe vendor si dhe drejtues e të tjerë të interesuar në formulimin, ndikimin dhe administrimin e politikave në lidhje me: Transferimine të Drejtave të Zhvillimit; Intensitetin e Ndërtimit me kushte; Financimin përmes Vlerës së Rritur të Taksës së Pronës; Zonat e Zhvillimit të Biznesit; Tarifat e Përmirësimit; Zonat e Vlerësimit të Veçantë.

Përgatitur për Agjencinë e Shteteve të Bashkuara për Zhvillim Nderkombëtar sipas Kontratës së USAID me Nr. AID-182-C-12-00001, Projekti i Planifikimit dhe Qeverisjes Vendore (PLGP). Ky udhëzues bazohet në punën e dokumentit të politikave dhe në mbështetjen e PLGP-së për PPV-të. Në të diskutohet për përdorimin e tokës në pronësi të bashkisë dhe ripërshtatjen e tokës për të lehtësuar planifikimin dhe zhvillimin. Përgjithësisht, ky dokument jep detaje për mënyrën PROJEKTI I USAID-IT PËR PLANIFIKIMIN DHE QEVERISJEN VENDORE 6 PLANET E DETAJUARA VENDORE DHE INSTRUMENTET FINANCIARE PËR ZHVILLIMIN E TOKËS se si, gjashtë instrumente financiare – tarifat e përmirësimit, zonat e vlerësimit të veçantë, zonat e zhvillimit të biznesit, intensiteti i ndërtimit me kushte, transferimi i të drejtave të zhvillimit dhe financimi nga rritja e taksës së pronësisë– mund të bëhen pjesë e rëndësishme e procesit të planifikimit të territorit si dhe paraqet raste studimore për mënyrën e zbatimit me sukses të tyre në disa bashki në Shqipëri dhe bashki të tjera në vende të ndryshme të botës. Theksi vihet tek PDV-të. Shumë bashki në Shqipëri kanë përfunduar ose janë duke përfunduar PPV-të dhe ky dokument synon t’u vijë në ndihmë atyre për të vijuar me hapin e dytë të procesit të planifikimit vendor, hartimin e Planeve të Detajuara Vendore.