105 © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 N. Gregoric ̌ Bon, S. Musaraj (eds.), Remitting, Restoring and Building Contemporary Albania, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84091-4_5 CHAPTER 5 Temporalities of Concrete in the Communist and Postcommunist City Smoki Musaraj S. Musaraj (*) Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA e-mail: musaraj@ohio.edu One thing needs to be done: stop all construction… At least so that this barba- rism, this concrete madness does not go on any further. Maks Velo 2013 INTRO: THE “BETONIZIM” OF THE LAKE PARK In summer 2016, the main topic of public debate in Albania was the con- struction of a playground. The playground would be built inside Lake Park (Parku i Liqenit), the only major green space in Tirana, the capital of Albania. This would be the frst signifcant public works project by the newly elected Mayor, Erion Veliaj. The construction and inauguration of the new playground dominated newspaper headlines, evening talk shows, and café conversations. A group of protestors had opposed the play- ground throughout its construction. This protest was but one of many other protests against construction projects that have taken place between