A new landmark neighbourhood is emerging in Tirana, shaped by the city’s ambitious vision for a longitudinal park—a Mediterranean Park that acts as both a meeting place and a gateway to the city. Tirana’s Mediterranean climate and culture are values to be honoured and elevated in this project. The masterplan imposes clear constraints—defining density, height, and urban footprint—yet within these limits lies an opportunity. Rather than being confined by these parameters, the architecture uses them to its advantage, creating a structure that is both rational and poetic, efficient yet unexpected. It is a habitat, a place of life, where the built form does not overpower but harmonises with the rhythms of the environment.
This project is not merely a building; it is an expression of place, a response to the DNA of Tirana, where tradition, history, and nature come together to inform the design. The architecture does not stand apart from the city but grows from it, as if it had always been meant to be here.
The design unfolds as a spiral, a response to the sun’s movement and the given urban conditions. This fluid form maximizes southern exposure while embracing the natural contours of the site. The volume is sculpted with intelligence, balancing density with openness, structure with lightness. As the building rises, the structural columns gradually reduce in size, mirroring nature’s own logic—less weight, less material, more air, more light. This is not just an efficient approach; it is an emotional one, ensuring that the higher levels feel as though they are lifted by the sky rather than weighed down by the earth.
At the street level, the relationship between architecture and the city is articulated through a refined classical order. A colonnade, with varying distances between columns, references Mediterranean traditions while allowing for a more organic, rhythmic flow. This composition is not purely aesthetic; it respects human scale, creating a threshold that is both dignified and inviting. The entablature sits at a carefully calculated height, marking a perceptual boundary that enhances the sense of proportion—just as nature organizes itself with an innate logic of structure and balance.
Yet the project does not simply rely on classical language. The façade is a contemporary exploration of depth and movement, taking inspiration from the early work of Piet Mondrian. Before he reduced his paintings to pure abstraction, Mondrian studied trees, analysing their branching structures and simplifying them into a rhythmic play of lines and forms. This artistic process is mirrored in the building’s composition, where the façade becomes a three-dimensional filigree—structural partitions expressed as an organic weave, reminiscent of tree branches filtering the Mediterranean light. This is architecture treated with an artist’s brush, where every line and surface carries intention.
And then, a moment of surprise—the courtyard. It is not an afterthought but a world of its own, a space of emotion and psychology. The building’s mass is carved away in soft, curved incisions, creating an intimate interior landscape. Here, light moves differently, shadows play across the sculpted concrete, and space takes on an almost tactile quality. It is an unexpected break from the rational grid, offering a moment of calm, a place to pause and breathe.
Beneath it all, a deep logic governs the design. The interplay of solids and voids, the calculated proportions, the seamless integration of function and form—everything is intentional. Sustainability is achieved not through technological excess but through architectural intelligence: orientation, depth, materiality. Cars disappear underground, ensuring a pedestrian-friendly environment where life unfolds freely. The result is a place that is permeable yet protective, rational yet deeply human.
This is architecture that acknowledges both the intellect and the senses. It respects nature’s laws, drawing from its efficiencies, its proportions, its poetry. It engages with the city at every level—urban, social, emotional—creating a presence that is not just seen but felt. It is a place of movement, of joy, of belonging. A structure that, once built, will feel as though it could never have been anything else.