[WELTRAUM II] Albania’s Bunkers
During the communist regime between 1945 and 1991 was Albania in a complete isolation. A huge part of the state funds was redirected to the defense and therefore to an incredible amount of weapons stored in freshly built bunkers. Coexistence with the latter is discussed today by Elian Stefa and his project Concrete Mushrooms, where he reveals the reasons for building more than hundreds of thousand of bunkers across Albania. With the ARTiLERIA project, Elian presents the possibility of awakening the only and completely deserted island of Sazan, which is 17 km away from the city of Vlora. Due to its strategic position, the island was completely inaccessible to citizens, inhabited by 3,000 soldiers and their families. With the fall of the communist regime in 1991, the island became completely uninhabited, with dozens of abandoned buildings, miles of underground tunnels and thousands of concrete bunkers. Elian explores how the decolonization of military infrastructure can establish a dialogue between different cultures.
[WELTRAUM] is an independent radio show curated by Boštjan Bugarič and broadcasted via NORadio
Elian Stefa (1985) is a Tirana based architect, researcher and independent curator. His work focuses on exploring ambiguous territories, revitalisation of abandoned spaces, and collaborative design. Recently he has been selected to join the fourth cycle of the Future Architecture Platform 2019 with “ARTiLERIA: Reawakening Sazan”. Previously he has participated at the Albanian Pavilion at the 13th Architecture Venice Biennale with Concrete Mushrooms, a project which transforms Albania’s 750,000 bunkers into tourist attractions, demystifying the communist territorial legacy in Albania; also published by dpr-barcelona. Other notable projects include acting as Associate Curator and General Coordinator of ‘Adhocracy’, exhibited at the 1st Istanbul Design Biennial, the New Museum NYC, and LimeWharf London; and exhibitions at La Triennale di Milano, the EXD’11 Lisbon Biennale, Stazione Futuro at the Officine Grandi Riparazioni of Torino, the Helsinki Museum of Cultures, Strelka Institute, and the Harvard GSD. Elian is also a fellow of the Future Architecture Platform.