From a Flamingo Killer and Accomplice Architects

By the time you are reading this, we have passed 100 days of protests in Albania. Whether you have or have not heard about them, you should read about them. It is not rare that protests that mark the history of a country have land issues as a starting point. What is rare, relevant to us, and happening in Albania now, is that architects’ decisions, actions, and deliberate moments of ignorance are deeply involved.

The protests started more humbly by locals and environmental activists in the Narta lagoon—a protected area within the boundaries of the Vjosa Wild River National Park, the first of its kind in Europe and home to endangered species and about 3000 flamingos. They were protesting, among others like it, a new resort development backed by Jared Kushner et al. After pepper spray was involved and civilians were injured, the protests quickly spread across the country and later across world capitals. The mass daily protests in Tirana, the Albanian capital, have been dubbed the Flamingo Revolution. Albanians from all ages, from all walks of life, ones that have returned from diaspora, and even foreigners who support the cause probably gathered today in Tirana with cutouts of flamingos as signs chanting “Albania is not for sale!” and asking for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

An architecture book called “The Albanian Files: Freedom and Architecture” was released early into the days of the Flamingo Revolution. During a press conference, the Albanian prime minister, in a jarring and distasteful joke, signed the front page with “from a flamingo killer.” That might be the most honest piece of writing the book had. In the preface he (yes, also written by the prime minister of the country) writes: “In Albania, the word file carries a long and painful memory… Files were not meant for understanding. They were meant to control. They were written about people, without them.” Here, he refers to surveillance files held by the Hoxha regime and his isolationist reign.

Interestingly, these developments are also being built about and without people. The book proceeds to cover the writing and work of 60 architecture offices that are distinctly not Albanian; firms that self-report to have been hand picked by the head of government; firms that self-report to have not gone through any form of competition; firms that are building on protected land with a performative veil of writing for the territory, referencing the culture, and shaping the future of Albania; firms we know and would happily work for.

Over 200 architects, urban designers, and field professionals have signed a declaration supporting the calls of the Flamingo Revolution and expanding the requests. They ask that procedural transparency, building quality, legality, and the natural territory not be thrown aside simply because the name of an architect comes with a degree of prestige. The freedom referenced in the book title is one that comes with a cost. Even within our studio projects, we care about the impact imaginary projects have on the world around them. As we graduate, step down from our ivory tower, and inshallah get to start prestigious architectural firms, will we also be accomplices to flamingo murder?