When “irony” becomes an alibi: Rama, the starchitects and “The Albanian Files”

Nga  Vincent Yūsui van Gerven Oei,  The Albanian Mechanism

Unsurprisingly, there has been very little response to my article last week from international architects in “The Albanian Files” over the weekend, despite my kind invitation to respond. The only one who took the time to respond was Martin Sobota from Cityförster, who, in his contribution to the aforementioned publication, writes:

“We were fascinated by the questions about how the last undeveloped coast of the Mediterranean could develop a new model, instead of falling prey to predatory mass tourism that ultimately destroys what it seeks to exploit.”

But instead of Sobota speaking out publicly against the devastation from “predatory mass tourism” that is currently destroying the Albanian coast, he wrote me an email in Dutch:

"Oh my God, Vincent. You probably know Reinier's essays. This article is of course ironic. I understand that in the face of recent events you lose your sense of humor, but I also know for sure that Reinier does not want to cancel the elections or make Rama king. And of course we do not want that either.

To answer other questions: "We have never paid money or provided benefits to government officials, we do all our work on the basis of official invoices and bank transfers and, as much as possible, we do verifications on our clients."

The last standard paragraph was in English, no doubt sent by his legal advisors and copied directly into the email. One wonders what it means for him to do “verifications” on his client Gjikuria shpk, the misuse of EU agricultural subsidies for which he is publicly known.

However, the “but it was ironic” argument has become the favorite retort of the “starchitect” community (also called the “art army” or “arch army,” according to their WhatsApp group), and even Prime Minister Edi Rama used this defense on his podcast over the weekend:

This book is called “The Albanian Files”. It is one of the most important books published in recent years in the field of architecture and urban planning in Europe and the world. […] “The Albanian Files” has been attacked by the revolutionary inquisition – I cannot call it intellectual, because it is not – and it is not my book, and it is not a publication controlled by me. I only wrote the preface. […]

Of course there are things that can be discussed, but to dismantle such a publication, as if it were the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and then to cling to a text that is self-ironic by an architect who represents one of the greatest studios in the history of contemporary architecture, OMA, founded and directed by the legendary Rem Koolhaas, this surpasses all! […]

This book is turned upside down. However, it shows that in fact the book is completely free, without control. All contributors had complete freedom in their writing. […] Reinier de Graaf's letter is evidence of this autonomy. […] You have to know the author, he has a globally recognized ironic, satirical and hyperbolic style that he uses in his work.

Both Sobota and Rama suspect that I “know the author.” So let’s look at other things De Graaf has said, for example during the “Bread and Heart” festival in 2025…

(The text continues by analyzing the architects' participation, connections with Rama, and emotional reactions during the panel, comparing them to political cultism and calling this behavior a lack of professional autonomy and strong political influence.)

The author goes on to argue that these architects are not independent, but closely tied to projects and interests in Albania, suggesting that “irony” is being used as a defense to avoid responsibility.

In the end, he concludes that the claim to irony is merely an excuse and that it is essentially hypocrisy.