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A brief description of you, where you work, how many years of experience you have and your area of expertise:
My 40-year activity in relation to state work begins in 1971, the year in which I graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in the Department of Architecture - one of the first graduates in this branch in Albania. My first appointment was made in October 1971 at the State Design Institute, in the Urban Planning Sector. The work in this sector continued without any interruption until 1990, when by decision of the Ministry of Construction I was appointed chief specialist in the Technical Directorate of the Ministry of Construction. During this time, in parallel, I have worked as an author and co-author in many projects and studies of the Regulatory Plans of cities and villages in our country.
In the field of legislation, my work has consisted on the preparation of the Urban Planning Law (Urban Planning Decree of 1978) and its revision of 1983 and the urban planning regulation in implementation of this Decree. The work with the urban planning legislation is intertwined with other study works, and during this period (1971-1990) I had a busy activity of study work in the field of urban planning.
As a result of my serious, passionate commitments and with positive results in urban design, I was evaluated by the highest executive body of the Albanian executive, the Council of Ministers, awarding me the Republic Award, dated 22.11.1979 with the motivation " For talented creative work in the field of urban planning and, especially, for the study and the achieved solution of the center of Vlora ”.
This busy period with study and design work continued until the change of the political system in Albania, a time which was followed with my employment in the "Ministry of Construction", at the request of that Ministry in the early 90's. The long experience of design study work, combined with the requirements of administrative work at the highest level in territorial planning, gave me the opportunity to respond with increasing quality to the tasks assigned to the ministry, where I worked without interruption from 1990 to 2005.
Among the main professional activities has been the commitment to perfect the legislation of Urbanism and as a result, I was involved in drafting the law "For Urbanism" no.7693, dated 06.04.1993 and the Regulation of Urbanism approved by the Decision of the Council of Ministers No.722, dated 19.11.1998.
I can say without pride that I am personally the only one among Albanian experts who has used a good part of her working time as a professional in the elaboration of urban planning legislation in our country. Being this the base of work in the Ministry, other official engagements were undoubtedly successful, and as a result my work not only became visible, but also necessary and positively evaluated. As a result of this assessed situation, in January 1997 I was appointed Director of the Directorate of Territorial Planning, approved by Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 28, dated 24.01.1997.
A very good opportunity to learn from the European experience in Spatial Planning has been my participation in the Committee of Senior Officials of the European Conference of Ministers Responsible for Regional Spatial Planning, at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg-France for the period 1997-2005.
During my work in the Ministry, I was given the opportunity to benefit from professional specializations in other countries such as. specialization in Italy, Israel. Also useful were the study tours in the USA - Wisconsin (1998), in the Land Tenure Center and study-tour in France (2003), in the coastal tourist area in the south of France, in the framework of the MEDWETCOAST project.
After leaving MPPT due to reaching retirement age, I continued working and was appointed Deputy Director at the Institute of Urban Studies and Design (ISPU), where I continued to work from November 2005 to July 2007. After this period, upon request of the Central Directorate of ALUIZNI, I continued to work in this Directorate as "Head of the urban sector", from July 2007 to July 2010, when I retired.
The final dismissal from state work, without interruption for the period 1971-2010, and officially retirement, has been very difficult. The passion for my work continues and I try to gather and systematize my experience for the benefit of the younger generations, where a special place is occupied by my daughter, Iris Papa, also a graduate of Architecture at the University of Tirana, since 2010. After 2010, I have been engaged in several research works, which have been current and have been positively evaluated by the competent structures.
Why did you choose architecture? What was the spark that led you to this profession?
Being a new branch at the Faculty of Engineering, opened for the first time in our country, it was a desire and curiosity to try out the creative skills I felt I had. My inclinations in the arts gave me the confidence of the step I took to compete in the branch of architecture that proved successful.
My autochthonous origins from Tirana, strong ties to the tradition of my city, the desire to see it even more beautifully, helped me to take steps towards an unknown field.
What do you think of architecture and which is your project that best represents you?
Architecture is a beautiful symbiosis of art, of creating with the technical sciences. It is also an important part of urban planning. Given that when I started my studies and onwards, in the internship at ISP No. 1, these worked together and were managed by the state, and consequently I worked in these two areas, where I was charged with several architectural projects in parallel. The needs of the time in the field of urban planning were very great and urgent, consequently I was charged with many urban projects throughout the country. The main and most accomplished are the participation in the projects of the regulatory plans of Tirana, Burrel, Prrenjas, Vora, etc. and later the regional plans of the commune of Dajt, Bërzhitë, Pezë, Ndroq, the regional plan of Barbullojë, Talë, Fushë Kuqe, Zejmen in the Region of Lezha.
An important place in my creativity as an architect and urban planner is occupied by the work in the field of urban legislation, which starts from 1975 to 2005 without interruption, concluding with Law 8405 on Urban Planning, approved by the Assembly in 2005.
What advice would you give yourself at the beginning of your career, valid even for young architects or those girls/women who want to become architects?
For young architects I would advise not to hesitate to try and experiment with the possibilities they now have with the technology of the time, but without ever giving up sketching and drawing ‘a mano’, as the only possibility of original personal expression of creative fantasy. Sketching and drawing yourself, in general outlines of conceiving a project, is not only a guarantee of success, but also the only way that each person controls and believes he is able to create architecture.
Special experiences:
The General Local Instrument of Dajt Commune was drafted at a key moment when the Law on Urban Planning was replaced by Law No. 10 119, on 23.4.2009 'For Territorial Planning', it is about 2013. Integration of new concepts of law 'For Territorial Planning' was a challenge for the time when it was worked about this plan. I was also pleased to collaborate on this study with my daughter Iris, and her two architect friends, who digitized this study. So, I can say that this plan was a successful cooperation of two generations, which was finalized with its approval in the National Council of the Territory with Decision no. 18, dated 04.07.2013.
