Akademia e Shkencave Tiranë: new and broader reconstructive hypothesis

The Architectural Heritage found in the Republic of Albania is currently facing two major threats.The first being property speculation, due to the interests of astute real estate developers, and the second being the diffuse neglect, due to the lack of a collective consciousness able to recognise the cultural value of its tangible and intangible assets, and at the same time, of protecting them before preserving them. In the 1960s, it was already implemented the adoption of regulatory instruments capable of protecting the Architectural Heritage [Giambruno, Pistidda 2015] due to the contribution of the wise political class and a small elite of academics and scholars; however it was not matched with the widespread and necessary interest from the rest of the population, that was probably still in search of a social redemption that passes through the predilection of the new and the cancellation of the signs of an often painful past.Through the work of its lecturers, the degree course in Architecture at the University Our Lady Of Good Counsel in Tirana, has been engaged for years in the promotion of the Albanian Architectural Heritage through research aimed at the study of architectural and environmental assets declared monuments of national interest, as well as the so-called ‘minor’ ones, which are still not protected by law. In both cases, the aim is to thoroughly understand their formal features - as well as their constructive, decorative, and structural ones - that contribute as a whole to strengthening the nation’s identity [Merlo 2020; Dipasquale et al. 2020].This paper should be read adopting the following perspective: starting from a broad knowledge base, we strive to provide new hypotheses on the construction history of the building currently housing the Akademia e Shkencave Tiranë, so that its cultural-historical value may be fully understood.