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  • Before and After. The Villa of Mr. X

    CULTURE QUARTE COMPETITION-VILLA 31, TIRANA, ALBANIA - 2015 DESIGN TEAM: 2A+P/A (Gianfranco Bombaci, Matteo Costanzo), Peter T. Lang, Studioarch4, ALN | ARCHITEKTURBÜRO LEINHÄUPL + NEUBER Villa 31 was the house of Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha. It has been a residential microcosm frozen in time. Inaccessible then, and still inaccessible now, the house and its troubled history should find renewed purpose, by confronting past and present, former regime and nascent democracy. Hoxha’s house cannot be simply preserved, opened and displayed without actively engaging each and every room, one by one. From the gardens to the bunkers, from the living rooms to the swimming pool, the house’s many spaces should be documented, questioned and debated. Citizens and visitors alike should have the chance to be part of and witness to how symbols of power can be engaged, challenged, and re-imagined.