Abstract:
The opening of Albanian borders since the fall of Communism and, more specifically, the opening of the General Directorate of Archives in Tirana, has allowed for a comprehensive investigation into the Albanian architectural sphere under Communism.
Foucauldian power theories, in conjunction with the party architectural doctrine, frame the investigation to metricise and observe how power manifests itself in
Albanian architecture. The Muzeu Historik Kombetar employs spatial hierarchy, material selection and complex construction methodologies to exert control over the visitors of the museum. The party manipulates the retelling of Albanian history for a particular narrative that heralds the regime as the leader of the people through their many historical struggles.
The plan, the section and the elevation have been analysed to ascertain the level of architectural manipulation for ideological potency. Ultimately, the fall of the Communist regime in the 1990s has led to a shift in connotations of the Muzeu Historik Kombetar. Both the building itself and the exhibits within are inherently
political in their nature and the preceding methodologies assert this understanding.
As such, the museum, can and should be read as a piece of canonical architecture in the Albanian Communist architectural cosmos, and as a key actor in the power dynamics of the country.























