Albanian Universe: Design between the Vacuum and the Energy: Albanian Pavilion at the XXI Triennale of Milano

For the first time in its history, Albania takes part in the Triennale through an Academic Institution based in the capital, Tirana. POLIS University, a research and development platform in the Western Balkans, together with its founding entity Co-PLAN, Institute for Habitat Development, introduce a reflection on the subject of design after design, based on their story within the Albanian context during the past 2 decades.

The approach of the first Albanian Pavilion in the history of Triennale, is based on the socio-economic and political situation of a country, a kind of radical cross-section of the Albanian society, where the design challenges are always coupled with a critical and problematic element actually existing within that context. Following a brief introduction on what is now Albania, the Albanian pavilion focuses on demystifying the challenges related to the consolidation of a democracy and a market economy through the POLIS and Co-PLAN works, addressed in four main columns. Each column represents a challenge of the Albanian context and its concrete answer as a project of physical and cultural change, which can be possible only because of the existence of an Institution focused on Education.