Tirana: The Latest Architecture and News

vGHcompany shared with us their competition entry for Mobilicity Tirana, which won an honorable mention. Their project outlines a utopia, which is based on the man who fell into one’s own trap: the notion of time. The rings showing the wheels of a watch in which each mean of conveyance (train, car, bike) are the hands covering the dial. Each of these conveyance flows has their own characteristics and its medium speed. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Grimshaw Architects recently announced that they have been selected to masterplan a large expansion to Albania’s capital city, Tirana. Grimshaw proposed a robust sequence of public spaces threaded along the boulevard that responded geometrically to existing patterns of land ownership. Tirana is a Mediterranean city with an outdoor culture. Each space or ‘living room’ was presented with a different use and character; a new ‘symphony of squares’. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Grimshaw Architects is one of two finalists selected in a competition for the master plan of central Tirana, Albania. The competition brief called for a comprehensive strategy that built upon the international identity of the city – particularly its waterways and the major boulevard running between them. It also called for an integration of transportation links – a city-wide transformation to streamline the infrastructure and bring vitality into the experience of the city.

Read on for more on Grimshaw’s strategy to enrich Tirana.

The center of Tirana is marked by a clear urban layout, but its recent growth filled up a large area around it without any order, structure, adequate services or meaningful public spaces. In this proposal by Cino Zucchi Architetti, in collaboration with One Works, Gustafson Porter, Buro Happold London, and Antonello Stella Architects, the voids rather than the buildings become the catalysts of new urban regeneration. In doing so, their design attracts public and private functions around a sequence of green spaces of high environmental quality. The extension of the boulevard into a lively green promenade progressively opens up to the beautiful landscape of the hills across the Tirana river. More images and architects’ description after the break.

BIG, Martha Schwartz Landscape, Buro Happold, Speirs & Major, Lutzenberger & Lutzenberger, and Global Cultural Asset Management are today announced as the winning team of the international design competition for a new 27.000 m2 cultural complex in Albania, consisting of a Mosque, an Islamic Centre, and a Museum of Religious Harmony.

More images and complete press release after the break.

JA Joubert Architecture, has won second prize in an international competition for a new mixed-use building along the Rruga Durresit, the main road into Tirana, Albania. Breaking with the traditional box-like shapes, they filled out the space set by the urban regulations, and subsequently hollowed out this shape until the maximum allowed volume was reached. In doing so, the strong, recognisable outer shape, is contrasted by beautiful open inner spaces and at the same time the proposed shape allows for a flexible development in program between shopping, offices and housing. More information and images after the break.

JA Joubert Architecture, a Rotterdam-based architectural office, has won first prize in an international competition for a new neighbourhood in Tirana, Albania. Invited by a private developer, they decided to break with standard sub-urban development by proposing an integral solution for building and parking, directly linking them to the terrain conditions, thus creating a new community for different (age) groups, with sports and health facilities, set within a continuous green park with beautiful views to the city and Tirana lake. More information and images after the break.