the suspended violence of a neighbourhood in the unmaking
The experience of being in 05 Maiji underscores how absurd it is to describe this community as temporary. Multi-level, solidly built, reinforced concrete buildings are carefully maintained by inhabitants who have lived here for decades (Fig 03). While walking the streets and talking to residents, the area does nothing but conjure a deep sense of embeddedness and permanence, of inter-generational living and tight- knit community. Concrete columns extending from top floors underscore residents’ dreams of remaining in-place (Fig 04). Houses were constructed this way to allow for incremental vertical expansion once children become adults, get married and start their own families, building new apartments above existing ones. It is a highly sustainable approach to urban intensification, both extending the service life of buildings and allowing families to age in-place. In many ways, 05 Maiji is full of the design principles architects strive for, exemplifying a walkable 15 Minute city with a diverse demographic base, small-scale urban agriculture and the fostering of strong socio-cultural networks.
Nonetheless, by 19 January 2022, forced evictions and property demolitions were well underway. In a flash of violence, entire sections of the neighbourhood were reduced to rubble, cherished family memories strewn across the streets for all to see. As compensation, residents were promised replacement apartments and rental subsidies through vague contracts. They were given little choice but to accept their offers. During the years needed to complete the project, residents will need to relocate elsewhere, severed from their current social networks and far from their places of childcare, education and employment. In addition to the social and mental tolls, the economic losses are tremendous, including not only the value of property but also of local economies and business networks, of established places of employment and hybrid live-work spaces. If residents eventually decide to return years from now, they will be thrust into an entirely new way of living: their former custom-built architecture, agricultural plots, livestock and fruit trees replaced with monotonous, generic apartment blocks flanking highly aestheticised recreational
all images Harris-Brandts + Goci
Self-built houses in 05 Maji, Tirana, Albania.
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on site review 43: architecture and t ime
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