Goal and Guiding Principles

The Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF) in collaboration with the Albanian Ministry of Culture organize this International Architectural Design Competition for the building of the Albanian Jewish Museum in the city of Vlorë. The Albanian Jewish Museum will be a museum of small scale considering the loca-tion and the specifics of the historical environment where it will be integrated. The significance of the building will be closely related to the museum content and will mark the urban landscape in a very conservative, and at the same time, innovative way. The new building will be a contemporary museum facility of international standard, an architecture LANDMARK BUILDING which merge the historical component into a contemporary proposal. It should be a RELEVANT welcoming place, accessible not only physically, but also intellectually, a place for tourists to visit, locals to gather, and Albanian Jews to re-connect to their history. The museum's mission is to BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER. It will be the CULTURAL MAGNET of the area, a SOURCE OF PRIDE for residents and the Albanian Jewish community. The museum space should be FLEXIBLE & ADAPTABLE as the museum experience doesn’t stop within its walls. The Project is placed in a very important location for the city where the historical pedestrian area intersects with the city center and other leisure and recreative facilities. Proposing of indoor and outdoor spaces that are dynamic and creative are encouraged, forming the open or semi-open diverse space, and providing such public spaces as exhibition and leisure, so as to improve the human experience and interaction.

Project Site

The proposed location for the museum is an existing building, a traditional vernacular dwelling, dating back to the 19th century, to be re-conceived as a new building with a contemporary extension in order to accommodate all the museum functions. It is lo-cated in cultural historical area of the city and faces one of the central squares of Vlorë. According to historical evidence, the majority of the residential buildings sur-rounding the area are the homes of Jewish families that dates back in the 16th Cen-tury. Until the early 20th century, the Synagogue of Vlorë was locatednorth of the competition site where a wide public square opens up today.. A fire destroyed the time-honored aged building. The museum location occupies superior geographic location in the urban landscape. It can make use of the unique resources at the intersection of the historical city, the urban area and the seaside, and provides convenient urban transportation and diverse public space. Situated at a majorcity square, and near three other museums – the National Museum of Independence, the History Museum, and the Ethnographic Museum – the Albanian Jewish Museum will form a part of this cultural complex, the future museum quarter. Map of the competition area © [phase eins].