8 views of Tirana, Albania — with its bright, multicolored buildings
A view of a street in Tirana, where the buildings have been splashed with color— for a political purpose. Photo: Merlin and Rebecca
Edi Rama — the mayor of Tirana, Albania, for 11 years — was an artist before a politician.
“I still paint. I love the joy that color can give to our lives and to our communities,” says Rama in today’s talk, filmed at TEDxThessaloniki. 
Edi Rama: Take back your city with paint“I try to bring something of the artist in me to my politics.”
Tirana, Albania’s capital city, was downtrodden when Rama took office. The city budget was squandered, corruption was rampant and crime was the norm. But Rama had an idea to raise the spirits of his town — he painted a grey building a bright orange.
As Rama set out to have more of the city painted in loud colors and bold designs, he met resistance from other countries in the European Union. He was asked to opt for more neutral colors.
“I told them no. Compromise in colors is grey,” explains Rama. “When colors came out everywhere, a mood of change started transforming the spirit of the people … People started to drop less litter in the streets. They started to pay taxes. They started to feel something they’d forgotten … Beauty was giving people a feeling of being protected. This was not a misplaced feeling — crime did fall.”
To hear more about the radical transformation of Tirana, and about Rama’s thoughts on how politicians are not all the same and can bring hope to people through seemingly small actions, watch his moving talk. And here, see just some of the buildings in Tirana that got the color treatment.
The first building in Tirana to get splashed with paint. Here is the before and after comparison. Photo: Edi Rama
The before and after of an apartment building. Photo: Edi Rama
Yet another gorgeously multicolored building. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr
Rama says, “As a result of the project, international artists turned whole living blocks in central Tirana into unique works of contemporary art. “ Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr
An undulating rainbow on the side of a building. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr
This building gets the block treatment. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr
A building gets the blues. Photo: Merlin and Rebecca
Pingback: Week 9 Memory = Identity | Architecture and the City DAB525
Pingback: Architecture and Memories. | DAB525- Architecture in the City
Pingback: #596 He painted the town red…and blue, yellow, orange, green | This gives me hope
Pingback: 用色彩找回你的城市 | TEDxTaipei
Pingback: Taking back the city – One of the most recent inspiring talks | urbanus vulgaris
commented on Feb 15 2013
Reblogged this on 1TVNauta 3.0e comentado:
8 vistas da cidade de Tirana , Albânia
Anna Oikonomou commented on Feb 14 2013
Reblogged this on anna's blog and commented:
What creative and colourful politics! Thumbs up!!
Kate Torgovnick commented on Feb 11 2013
After publishing this piece, I got an email in my inbox from a woman who lives in Tirana and has a very different view of the painting of her city. Because I feel it’s important to hear all voices in a conversation, here is a snippet:
“I saw a post of yours about Tirana in TED. I hope you visit Tirana someday and see how those bright, multicolored buildings really look … Ask anyone in Tirana, if they are happy with the ‘look’ of the city, and the answer you get is ‘I want my city back! ‘ Seen from the eyes of a student living abroad and who has travelled a lot, it looks extremely ugly. I can assure you it is nothing close to Riomaggiore or Willemstad.”
David McMillan commented on Feb 24 2013
If you want to “hear all voices in the conversation” you do it scientifically, through a study (survey, poll, focus group). Not through a random anonymous comment.
The talk does talk about a substantial (minority) percentage of the population that didn’t like the change (and many oppose any change, even if it is for the better).
And for the sake of giving everybody a voice, here is mine: I never had a desire to visit Albania. After seeing all these colorful and unique buildings I would definitely consider visiting.
commented on Feb 9 2013
Reblogged this on Where's Lusika and commented:
Regardless of your opinion about his decisions, he gave a pretty good talk here. Bravo edi rama, keshtu te vazhdojme
commented on Feb 8 2013
Nice!
commented on Feb 8 2013
Nice!