Tirana Architecture Triennale: Virtually Present, Physically Invisible Vol. III

Apr 2025 — Apr 2024

Tirana, Albania

The 2025 edition of the Tirana Architecture Triennale, under the thematic framework “Virtually

Present, Physically Invisible”, hosted a dynamic residency and workshop program in collaboration with five LINA participants, which of them five fellows: rubble, Irena Übler, Community Maintenance Club, Andreia Garcia and Harvest Salon. These emerging voices in architecture and design joined forces with local institutions, students, and young professionals in Tirana to develop a series of public activities, exhibitions, and urban interventions.

The Triennale’s approach closely aligns with LINA’s strategic framework by fostering co-creation, sustainability, and inclusive architectural practice. It enabled the sharing of methodologies and experimental formats that engage architecture’s social, material, and spatial dimensions, while addressing pressing challenges such as informality, community resilience, and urban transformation. Additionally, Andreia Garcia, was invited to contribute as the author of the curatorial text for the next edition of the Triennale in 2026, deepening the curatorial continuity and research-based foundation of the platform.

Activities

During the three-week residency hosted in Tirana, the LINA fellows co-developed site-specific workshops, urban installations, and participatory exhibitions with architecture students from Barleti University and other invited creatives. Activities took place across various locations—ranging from informal riverbanks and peripheral neighborhoods to academic spaces and public institutions. The results of those activities together with the incredible work developed through the three years of the LINA Community Platform in addition with other activities that were part of the Tirana Architecture Triennale comprised an important publication and monograph entitled “Future Intelligence in Architecture and Design”.

Key topics explored:

- The digitalization of labor and public space (Harvest Salon – Urban Placemaking

Soup)

- Repair culture, care, and long-term maintenance of the built environment

(Community Maintenance Club)

- Co-design and prototyping through reused materials (Irena Übler)

- Rubble reuse and speculative archaeology in post-socialist contexts (rubble)

All workshops emphasized material circularity, local engagement, and transdisciplinary collaboration, enabling fellows to experiment with forms of civic participation and design literacy.