ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a former concrete factory Ndermarrja e Ndertimit, Gjirokastra in southern Albania. This factory was constructed in the 1950s during a period of Communist rule and functioned materially and ideologically until the collapse of Communism in 1991; however, some parts of the space have continued to perform a manufacturing role on a lesser scale. In addition, the Albanian Communist government produced numerous state-sanctioned publications which are an excellent resource for contemporaneous imagery and literature featuring industrial facilities and their workers. Obviously, these possess an overt bias towards the ideology of the time but are an invaluable resource nonetheless. Furthermore, due to the recent-past nature of such factories, it is not difficult to seek out former employees who are familiar with particular industrial spaces. The combination of structural remains and firsthand accounts based on lived experiences and documentary sources can enable a fuller comprehension of the functionality of a factory complex.
