Critical review of restoration methodology of the architectural heritage adopted in Albania the last 20 years

The restoration of the architectural heritage is a very complex topic in continuous development. The issue raises interesting questions about the methodological approach to be followed and the objectives from which it must be started for the definition of a correct restoration. In Albania, in academic terms, different normative efforts have been done by means of the production of technical documents that establish how to evaluate the problem with more awareness. In the international field, from a general point of view, it is possible to refer to the ISCARSAH Recommendations that give a preliminary approach, a sort of guidelines about the restoration of historical heritage. Currently, in this field are being used different approaches: either a criterion based on the restoration, which puts attention to the form and to the basic traditional materials of the building but less in the originality of aesthetic design and architectural elements; or a technical method that is more interested at the building but, in many cases, involves over-dimensioned interventions than the real requirements, altering the original form and history of the artefact’s. The research method consists in reviewing case studies and fieldwork especially conducted in Albanian cities with a significant Architectural Heritage during the past 20 years, observations and interviews with the specific restoration experts to better understand their opinion and critics about the adopted restoration methodology. For this purpose, there have been analyzed variable examples like the transformation of the “Vila 14”, designed by arch. S. Luarasi located in st. “Asim Zeneli”, Tirana after the restoration process, the restoration project of the “Babameto’s house” in Gjirokastra, etc., to identify where the architectural heritage sector has received the right restoration methodology to maintain and preserve its aesthetic values. An important part of this analysis is the critical review of the project from the Preliminary identification phase (amnesia and diagnosis), how the structure or the elements that compose it are treated until the intervention phase.