Exhibition Venue

Hotel Dajti

The regulatory plan of Tirana, designed in the 1930s, predicted the construction of a big, representative hotel in the centre of the town. Most of the hotels of that time were simple small inns, built during time of the Ottoman Empire. Initially an idea of the Albanian government, the project for constructing the new hotel was appropriated by the Italians after invading the country. For its construction, they employed the rational/monumental architecture of the time and it remained for quite some time the most luxurious hotel in the Balkans. Even with bare eyes one can notice a discrepancy between the majestic ground floor with its marble walls and the upper part, where the rooms are poorer and much simpler. Fascist Italy had just entered the Second World War and because of financial restrictions the initial project had to change and be reduced.

The project of Hotel Dajti is the work of several Italian architects, among whom Gherardo Bosio was one of the most well known architects of the time, also engaged in the construction of several administrative buildings in the centre of Tirana. Bosio died of cancer in 1941 at the age of 38, while working on the interior design of Hotel Dajti.

In 2002, Hotel Dajti was granted the status of “monument of culture” with the aim of taking it under protection as a historical building. Unfortunately, the building was left unguarded and was completely vandalized and looted.

 

Photos: