Architecture and Urban Planning
doi: 10.7250/aup.2014.004
2014 / 9
The Impact of Socialist Realism
in the Albanian Architecture in 1945-1990
Olisa Ndreçka, Florian Nepravishta, Polytechnic University of Tirana
Abstract – The socialist realism principles, similar to other Eastern
European countries, guided the construction and architecture in
Albania from 1945 to 1990. The research done on various case studies
of socialist architecture constructed in this period in Tirana tries to
shed light on the topic of great interest nowadays regarding this
style as part of Albanian heritage. The paper describes the history of
socialist realism and the inluence of the Albanian Communist Party
on the development of the architecture during the socialist period.
It demonstrates how the Albanian architecture development was
radically changed by the socialist ideology and how this style was
supported by the post-war architects. It is argued that the socialist
realism style was predominant in the Albanian architecture of that
period and this heritage needs to be preserved for next generations.
Keywords – History of architecture, socialist realism, dictatorship,
ideology, theories of socialism.
Totalitarian regimes are characterized by attempts to control
everyone and everything at any cost; by force and propaganda,
they impose a single truth about the world and people. Lenin’s
Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 was conducted in the name
of socialism, and the proletarian state power passed under the
control of the Communist Party.
After the Second World War, the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) carried out a powerful political and ideological
invasion in many countries of Eastern Europe. Albania entered
into the fold of the Soviet Union, “impatient” to pay tribute to
Stalin. New elements of the communist ideology like socialist
realism were introduced in all areas of culture and art. The control
of the state was imposed over literature, music, visual arts and in
the ield of architecture and urban planning.
The relationship between architecture and politics is one of the
dominant features characteristic of the Albanian architecture in
the period from 1945 to 1990. Although the beginning of 1990s
was the end of the socialist realism period, even at present in
Albania there is a “strange” political approach to the heritage
of that period. In fact, there are many problems regarding this
heritage. First, it is not considered as a contribution in the
Albanian history of architecture; on the contrary, there are
continued attempts to destroy any trace or proof of the socialist
realism period. Secondly, the buildings dating back to that period
are often subject to deterioration, loss of identity and destruction.
Thirdly, lack of maintenance and total abandonment make this
heritage almost unrecoverable.
i. historical descriPtion of socialist realism in architecture
Socialist realism was developed in the Soviet Union and after
the triumph of ‘people’s democracies’ became the dominant style
in other socialist countries.
Socialist realism is an artistic procedure whose essence
consists in relecting reality captured in its revolutionary
27
development, in a truthful and historically concrete way. It
demands that the artist realize a deinite aim – the formulation
of the new man in whom ideological wealth, beauty, spiritual
and physical perfection coexist harmoniously. The theory of
socialist realism implies dialectical relations between form and
content [5].
During the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks
established an institution called PROLETKULT (The Proletarian
Cultural and Enlightenment Organizations), which sought to put
all arts into the service of the dictatorship [12].
Socialist realism became the state policy in 1932 when the
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin promulgated the decree “On the
Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organizations”[17]. The
establishment of Moscow and Leningrad Union of Artists in that
time ended the history of the post-revolutionary art. The epoch
of Soviet art began.[9, 28–29]. The style of socialist realism,
according to Anders Aman, appeared for the irst time in 1933
in the Soviet Union on the occasions of the national competition
for the Palace of the Soviets in Moscow [1, 48]. On February
1931, Soviet architects received invitations to bid for the Palace
of Soviets design. Until February 1933, several competitions
were held, and many architects participated, but there was not
any winner [7].
To indoctrinate the masses, the socialist realism ideology was
also forced in the arts and sciences, culture, and architecture
[3, 9-10]. The Union Congress of All Soviet Architects, held in
June 19, 1937, was a very important event for Soviet architecture.
At this congress, the code of socialist realism architecture was
drafted, which states: “The proletariat must create a style in
Architecture” [3, 9–10]. The Soviet architecture borrows the
form from the past, essentially from classical architecture
that should incorporate new content along with the old form.
According to the Congress of Architects, a classic architectural
style was the only valid architecture, and as literature of that time
required a red Tolstoy, architecture should have developed a red
Palladio [4, 54].
In conjunction with the socialist classical style of architecture,
socialist realism was the oficially approved type of art in the
Soviet Union. All material goods and means of production
belonged to the community as a whole; this included the means
of art production, which were also seen as powerful propaganda
tools [16]. Architecture in the Soviet Union during the socialist
period was associated with the socialist realism school of art and
architecture.
Function and form were the basic concepts of Modernist
architecture. The corresponding concepts in socialist realism
were “socialist content and national form”. A building like a
novel or a symphony had to be “socialist in content and national
in form” [1, 49–50].
Architecture and Urban Planning
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Olisa Ndreçka, Florian Nepravishta, The Impact of Socialist Realism in the Albanian Architecture in 1945–1990
years, the Soviet economic, political and ideological model was
introduced. The People’s Republic of Albania, which became one
of the most fanatic communist states, was totally isolated from
the rest of the world after 1978 when all connections with other
countries had been broken. Hoxha ruled Albania as a dictator
until his death in 1985. Albania was by then the poorest country
in Europe [15].
The communist ideology was relected in the physical urban
environment, which changed in a harsh way during this period.
New towns were built as well as many large industrial facilities,
city centers of existing cities were re-constructed, statues and
monuments were raised and street names were changed. The
historical buildings that did not suit the dictatorship ideology were
turned down. Religious buildings were demolished or turned into
profane buildings since Albania in theory was an atheistic state.
Construction and architecture in Albania after the Second
World War until 1990, exactly for 45 years, were guided by the
principles of socialist realism as aesthetic design concepts, as
well as the norms and rules that were binding and strong for the
architects and engineers. There were radical changes in social
and economic structure, as well as in the urban structure and the
Albanian urban heritage because of the socialist realism ideas.
In terms of architecture, after the war the style, the “direction”
or “language” of the Albanian architecture and urban planning
was expected to change. The dominating options were to
choose the “direction” and the style following the examples of
communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, although in
many Albanian cities solid foundations of the Italian rationalist
architecture, MIAR (Movimento Italiano di Architettura
Razionale) were laid. The Albanian architecture ‘decided’ and
adopted the method of socialist realism. The genesis of the
Albanian architecture in the communist period was based in
social realism theory and practice of the Soviet Union, started at
the Union Congress of All Soviet Architects [2, 14–15].
Fig. 1. “New Albania” Cinema Studio. Source: [19].
Fig. 2. Former Central Committee of the Labor Party of Albania. Source: Authors’
archive.
After WWII, the new architecture became prevalent in many
areas. The victorious architecture became ubiquitous. It was seen
from the ornamental details of the buildings to the sameness of
the facades in different structures, city blocks, town squares,
and the city as a whole. Architecture was seen as an art and
was demonstrated by the style of prominence and distinction
[1, 50–56].
This method became popular also in other Eastern European
countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Poland, East Germany, Yugoslavia, and Albania, too.
Since the creation of the Socialist Camp with the Warsaw Treaty
in 1949, the two main superpowers realized the contradictory
ideologies. The contest between these ideologies, as in other
ields of art and culture, was also waged in architecture. There
was a mentality in ‘the people’s democratic republics’ in Eastern
Europe that everything had to be socialist in content and national
in form. It had to be done quickly, with a revolutionary urgency.
The socialist realism in architecture, until the 1990s, had
been mostly, but not always inluenced by the Soviet Union.
Even though the basic political conditions were the same in all
countries of the Socialist Camp, events took different courses.
Albania was a particular example of loyalty towards Stalinist
ideology that was relected in all areas of art and culture.
ii. the initial develoPment of the architecture
realism in albania
of
iii. the soviet influence
During the years 1947-48, Albania was under the Soviet
inluence and also under the inluence of Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, which did not blindly follow the canons
of socialist realism.
The irst Albanian architects of the post-war period who had
studied in the Soviet Union arrived in the years 1951–52. After
completing the studies, they began working in the home country,
followed later by many engineers and architects, who came from
the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, part of the socialist
camp, Soviet satellites as our country was.
The latter ones practiced closer to the contemporary
architecture style, thanks to a tradition rooted in these countries
before the Second World War. The prevailing education and the
spirit of the time consequently brought the projects that strictly
followed the Soviet social realism patterns. Any deviation was
called “Anti-Sovietism” and was punished. Punitive measures
were conditioned by the status or class of the individuals and also
their political credibility [2, 54–55].
Among the irst buildings that relected the socialist style in
Albania was the industrial building of “Stalin” Textiles Factory
(Kombinati i tekstileve “Stalin”), designed by the architects that
socialist
The Albanian Communist Party and its leader Enver Hoxha
gained power in Albania in 1944 [7, 11]. During the following
28
Architecture and Urban Planning
Olisa Ndreçka, Florian Nepravishta, The Impact of Socialist Realism in the Albanian Architecture in 1945–1990
came from the Soviet Union. It was constructed in the early
1950s in the suburbs of Tirana. The buildings of the Faculty of
History and Philology and the “New Albania” Cinema Studio
headquarters (Kinostudio “Shqipëria e re”), built in 1951–52 in
Tirana, were also designed by the Soviet architects (Fig. 1).
Another example of the Soviet inluence in Albanian
architecture was the building of the Central Committee of the
Labor Party of Albania, located in the main Boulevard of Tirana,
designed by an Albanian architect Anton Lui (Fig. 2).
This situation continued until the break of the relations with
the Soviet Union. The current stream known at that time was
criticized as regressive and archaic because it was obligatory in
the 1930s.
Even in Albania, the elements of classical architecture in
socialist realism style were criticized and abandoned due to the
phenomenon that occurred in the Soviet Union, because of the
generally adopted policy. The criticism was concentrated on the
excessive and pointless decoration of the building facades while
the main focus of government remained urban development
through urban policies for the industrial and agrarian development
of Albania [4, 14–17].
After the death of Stalin, the rehabilitation of the contemporary
architecture was performed. The unnecessary ornamentation was
removed. The lack of decorations and many other elements that
had characterized the style of architecture up to that period in
Albania was considered as construction cost reduction and
loyalty to the socialist realism method.
Furthermore, the facilities built with low-quality available
materials and without exterior plastering seemed very poor.
The architects designed the buildings following the requirements
and prescribed conditions. For this reason, the opportunities
for something new and aesthetically attractive in architecture
were restricted to usual facilities. Obviously, there were special
designing requests from the government for the buildings of
special importance. In such cases, the architects and engineers
had to make use of new concepts and construct the buildings
using new good quality materials.
For several years (till in the early 1960s), the Stalinist
architecture was a model. The break of the relations with the
former Soviet Union marked a relatively dificult period in
the Albanian architecture. After the break of the relations, the
friendly warm period in which the maximum was obtained
from architectural projects and professionals from the former
Soviet Union ended. Many buildings (even some very important
ones) were “abandoned” and Albanian engineers and architects
were forced to continue the construction of these major works
by making changes, without excluding Stalinist ideology, but
bringing it in the most rational form.
The Palace of Culture was one of these buildings. It was built
in the location of the former Tirana’s Old Bazaar. The irst stone
was symbolically put by the former First Secretary of the USSR
Communist Party, Nikita Khrushchev, in 1959. The building was
a gift to Albanians from the Soviet government. The Soviet design
group presented three versions of the project. The members of
Politburo selected the winning version. In this version, changes
should have been made, so a part of Soviet designers stayed in
Albania to correct the design idea. A group of Albanian architects
2014 / 9
Fig. 3. The Palace of Culture in the 1960. Source: [18]
Fig. 4. The Palace of Culture in the 2013. Source: Authors’ archive.
and engineers also took part in the project to help in the matter.
After inishing the project, the Soviet staff left, keeping in touch
with the group of designers who continued to work on the project.
The Albanian group of designers had never had the full project
design, so the break of the relations caused a very big “cramp” for
the work progress. The work began according to the drawings and
supplements to the existing drawings, so that the project could be
as close as possible to the Soviet one [11, 54–55]. Meanwhile,
the Politburo and the government wanted the Palace of Culture
to become larger. As a result, the project was extended, and
the number of loors was increased, a library space was added,
even though it was not part of the project designed by the Soviet
architects (Fig. 3 and 4).
iv. the influence of the labor Party of albania
The genesis of socialist realism architecture in Albania can be
found in the Stalinist ideology and the decisions of the Labor
Party of Albania (The Albanian Communist Party “PPSH”).
At the Politburo meetings that used to be called “Plenum,”
guidelines, theses, principles, and codes were processed and
approved. This method was strongly supported by the group
of the post-war Albanian architects. They graduated from
architecture universities of the Soviet Union and other countries
of the Communist Camp. It was also supported by the creativity
of the Russian architects who were invited to design some of the
important buildings in Albania.
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Architecture and Urban Planning
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Olisa Ndreçka, Florian Nepravishta, The Impact of Socialist Realism in the Albanian Architecture in 1945–1990
In many cases, the architect’s initiatives and attempt to “dare” in
functional and constructive solutions, or in the design of facades,
were immediately rejected by the Ministry of Construction
claiming that these solutions would be costly. An architect of
the time stated that there was a Ministry Control Team that in
separate social circles was called the “saving” team, because
although the design of the facilities had a low budget, there were
still attempts to reduce costs. For this reason, we can say that
many of the buildings constructed during the socialism period in
Albania could have been better.
The inluence of the communist party was present in the
life of everyone because, under the socialist system, there was
a rigid rules that all engineers and specialists, as Party cadres,
were under the management of the department of the party base
organizations, in order to exercise centralized control. Whenever
the architects wanted to be different, the communist authorities
were not satisied. The project process was closed; it had to do
with the constructing matter, not accepting its artistic attributes,
since the construction itself was included in economic plans [13].
According to Hoxha, First Secretary of Labor Party of Albania
, “anything that will be built, will serve the people, because they
will live in these built cities, will walk in the streets and will
enjoy the sunlight that will penetrate everywhere” [6].
The most important aspect of architecture, the aesthetic, was
left aside, neglected. It was considered only on special occasions
for speciic buildings. Only the government and the Labor Party
representatives could decide where the ornaments could be used
on deinite buildings. A key element in the construction matter
was the functional solution. Every extra request was regarded as
excessive and inally was not accepted. Following this method,
the progress was very dificult. The Technical Councils were
the only place where the discussions were held. It was up to the
council members to make decisions on this matter.
There were numerous cases when the Communist Party,
present more than ever, “revolted” against the architects attempts
to design the facilities in a modern style, the so-called revisionism
style used at that time [13]. The system had a policy: building low
cost living facilities, and building the administrative state facilities
with relatively high budget (considering the poverty in Albania).
The initiatives and attempts of the architects to disregard the
rules, as mentioned above, were eliminated immediately. But still
there were courageous architects whose design and work were
attacked and punished by the system due to economic, ideological
and political reasons [13, 79–80]. A residential building of the
architect Maks Velo, the so-called “Dice residential building”
(also known as “Cubic Residential Building”) built in the 1970s,
is a good example (Fig. 5 and 6).
The building attracted the attention of the people, and certainly
it was considered as a trend towards modernism, not only by
those who in a hidden way shared the same opinion, but also
by the ones who were against and attacked these structures
together with its architect. The centrally located building would
be a continuous provocation for the design style of that period.
The building itself would be a target of charges, especially after
the architect was sentenced in prison in 1978. The building was
sometimes called modernist, cubist, and the government was in
favor of its demolition. In an article in the “Drita” newspaper [14]
Fig. 5. Perspective drawing of the residential building. Source: [13, 79-80]
Fig. 6. View of the residential building. Source: [13, 79-80]
The Labor Party led the policy of the construction
and architecture in Albania, considering the Ministry of
Construction as the principal institution in charge for designs,
urban studies, engineering and architectural buildings. In the
majority, the buildings designed under the inluence of socialist
realism style in Albania were those with socio-cultural and
administrative functions. The socialist realism style in the
Albanian architecture was treated as a political and ideological
approach, and it was always mentioned by political propaganda
that this style was powerful and conceived in such way to
ight against the foreign architectural models of the capitalist
countries. [13, 76]
After the 1970s, Albania as a poor country met the demands
for a rational, simple and functional architecture based on the
modern technology of that time and the industrialization of the
construction. The method of socialist realism style was always
a political dogma, because it had no executive value. It did not
help as a design instrument. The socialist content and the national
forms remain only slogans.
The construction sector should follow the slogan “to build
faster, better and cheaper” [10]. Under this motto and with
voluntary work the majority of the buildings in socialist Albania
were built.
30
Architecture and Urban Planning
Olisa Ndreçka, Florian Nepravishta, The Impact of Socialist Realism in the Albanian Architecture in 1945–1990
it was written, “The cost of an apartment in a residential building
next to the store department (called MAPO) doubled. There was
a drawback in designing the apartment; there was unjustiied
living and service space of different sizes and shapes. Because of
the “free architecture”, the façade does not only lack functional
balconies, but the foreign impact has also affected the function
and the facade of the building. The economic effect is immense,
because the budget used to construct this building would be
suficient for building twice the number of the apartments. The
contradictions come from the foreign impact and trends. The
cutback regime is strengthened by the beauty and simplicity,
which is in harmony with the national style, contradicting
the redundancy, the luxury and the overuse of expensive
materials” [13].
Despite the written and spoken comments, the project of this
building normally was introduced in the Technical Council of the
Ministry of Construction as well as another special commission
that purposely checked this building.
As mentioned above, for the buildings that were considered
important for the government, a considerable budget was
allocated and the most successful architects were hired for their
design.
The National Historical Museum was one of the important
buildings for the government and the Party. They had great
requirements and expectations with regard to its construction. The
impact of the representatives of Politburo was stronger than ever.
They decided and assigned how it should be designed and built.
As it was written in the newspapers of that time “the museum
stands as a monument that the Party raised in the glorious and
heroic history of our country in centuries” [14].
The National Historical Museum was inaugurated on 28
October of 1981 and became one the biggest museum buildings
in Albania (Fig. 7). Located in the western side of the square
of “Skanderbeg”, the museum is one of the most important
architectural works, playing an important role in the formation
of the center of Tirana. The surface area is 27,000 m2. Arch.
Sokrat Mosko guided the leading group of the project, with
several professionals from the Institute of Design (Instituti i
Projektimeve), and other instances.
In the irst years of project design, frequent meetings with the
government authorities were inevitable, because their thoughts
and suggestions served as a solid foundation for the development
of the project. In Enver Hoxha’s works, there are certain remarks
regarding the construction of the National Historical Museum
in terms of its volume and the impact of the ideology used for
the design of the building. He was dissatisied with the lack of
political, ideological, cultural and military concepts in the design
of the museum, and he also urged to reveal (by means of this
building) the Marxist - Leninist point of view.
The dictator himself did not hesitate to give his opinion on
the architectural concept, forcing the professionals not to
have extravagant ideas about graceful and gigantic buildings.
On the contrary, they had to ascribe the museum national and
traditional features. There were more and more orientations and
suggestions, and also there were comparisons and parallelism,
such as “the belt of ammo, “as an identifying element or symbol
of the national war of liberation, led by the Communist Party”.
2014 / 9
Fig. 7. Photo of the National Historical Museum in 1988. Source: Authors’
archive.
Such interventions were to some extent harsh, interfering with
the creative process and the work of the architect [6].
conclusions
For several years, the socialist realism style was a model for
the Albanian architecture and urban planning. After the break of
the relations with the former Soviet Union, the ideology led the
policy of construction and architecture according to the directives
of the Communist Party.
The socialist ideology led the policy of the construction and
architecture in Albania during 1945–90. The socialist realism
method affected not only political and administrative buildings,
but also socio-cultural, educational and service buildings. The
common point of view among the people is to forget totally,
destroy any memories of the facts and buildings of that period.
This happens because the communist period is still recent and
many Albanians directly or indirectly suffered during this period,
but on the other hand, there are several buildings considered as
communist heritage that carry cultural values and represent an
important period in the Albanian architecture.
The communist heritage should be recognized and preserved
for the next generations. The best way to do this is to give
a possibility to better understand the past better as well as the
present of their society. There are several buildings that are
recognized as important architectural examples of social realism
ideology, and they represent aesthetics and functionality features.
The socialist realism ideology affected the landscape and
cityscape in almost every aspect of architecture and urban
planning. The most important thing to do with the built heritage
of this period is not to separate these buildings from the history
of the Albanian architecture. Although this is considered hard
to do in the cultural landscape produced and transformed by a
dictatorship, because some of the buildings clearly belong to the
system’s ideology.
The rest of the remaining heritage of the socialist realism in the
Albanian architecture should necessarily be preserved due to the
following reasons:
Despite the conditions of the political system, the attempts of a
great number of architects succeeded in designing many buildings
that even today have a special and noticeable importance.
It is an asset of that period in the ield of design and construction
that relects the mentality of that system.
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Architecture and Urban Planning
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Olisa Ndreçka, Florian Nepravishta, The Impact of Socialist Realism in the Albanian Architecture in 1945–1990
Olisa Ndreçka, Diploma in Architecture (2009,
Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania),
Master degree in “Innovative technologies in
architectural, urban and environmental planning
and restoration” (2011, University of Naples
Federico II, Faculty of Architecture). Doctorate
Student at the Faculty of Architecture and
Urbanism in Tirana, thesis topic “The Albanian
Architecture during the Socialist Realism
period”. Assistant professor at the Faculty of
Architecture and Urbanism in Tirana (2013). She
has participated in some international conferences
on architecture. Research interest: ideology and
architecture, socialist realism period, architectural design.
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Florian Nepravishta, full professor and Head of
the Department of Architecture at the Polytechnic
University of Tirana. Doctor (2009); MSc. in Urban
Housing Management, IHS - Erasmus University,
The Netherlands & Lund University, Sweden (200102); Diploma of Jurisprudence, University of Shkodra
(1995-2003), Diploma in Architecture, Polytechnic
University of Tirana (1998-93). Florian is a visiting
professor in different universities. He has worked as
a consultant for local government, private companies
and NGOs. He has been a member of different
national and international scientiic communities:
Chairman of the Editorial Board for the section of
Architecture, Urban Planning and Public Affairs of “Albanian Encyclopedia”,
Institute of History (2013). Presidency member of the Albanian Association of
Architects and Planners (2013 to date). Member of the Scientiic Council of the
Institute of Cultural Monuments (2013 to date), etc. He has participated in various
scientiic conferences and written scientiic publications and books.
Research interest: architecture, housing, building adaptation, inner city
revitalization and heritage conservation.
contact data
Olisa Ndreçka
Polytechnic University of Tirana, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism
Address: Rruga “M. Gjollesha”, Nr. 54, Tiranë, Albania
Phone: +355663003121
E-mail: o.ndrecka@gmail.com
Florian Nepravishta
Polytechnic University of Tirana, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism
Address: Rruga “M. Gjollesha”, Nr. 54, Tiranë, Albania
Phone: +355682071811
E-mail: lorian.nepravishta@fau.edu.al
f_nepravishta@yahoo.com
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Florian Nepravishta