Open Invitation | Renovation of MARUBI Museum (Phototheque)

The Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Albanian Development Fund and Atelier Albania has launched an international competition on the project “Restoration and Museumization of the National Photo Gallery Marubi” in the city of Shkodër.

Copyright © Marubi Museum

This OPEN CALL invites all architects, preservationists, engineers, museologists and curators to come up with a visionary design for a more publicly accessible and contemporary museum. 

The challenge here is much more than deciding how much of the building's history to preserve/restore and how to modernize it in a way that opens it up to the city and its audiences (local & international). It is an opportunity to transform a whole historical, cultural and artistic institution: who it is, how it operates, what it exhibits, why it promotes, etc.
From the way it archives history and restores heritage, to the contemporary dialog it has within and the one it starts with the rest of the city fabric (old and new). 

As I've mentioned before On Preservation: 

Everywhere, urban diversity and historical layers are being replaced by universal, consumer driven, money making aesthetics. According to Koolhaas, this so-called preservation is not favoring the great, the ancient, or that which might deserve it. It has become a selection vulnerable to political motivation and correctness. It is done for the wrong reasons while triggering more development and speculated land values. He argues that the result is a “a new form of historical amnesia, one that, perversely, only further alienates us from the past.”

Copyright © Marubi Museum

Important Dates for this Two Stage International Competition.
*For more info, details, and qualifications, make sure to visit the competition website.

STAGE 1 – CALL FOR INTEREST

February 7: Official Launch

February 25: DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF INTEREST

February 26 – 27:  Jury Pre-selection

February 28: ANNOUNCEMENT OF SHORT-LIST

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STAGE 2 – CALL FOR PROPOSALS

March 1:  Official Invitation of 5 Short-listed Teams

March 30: DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

March 31:  Public Presentations of 5 Proposals

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Also, if you're in the region, make sure to visit the MARUBI Exhibit at the Kosovo Art Gallery in view until March 14, 2014.

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