The
primary conceptual intent is that of treating Scanderbeg Square as a
digital footprint, an imprinting that confers it with a level of
centrality. The next step, following the creation of a centre, is
that of reiterating the figure of the circle and alluding to a
magnetic field. The interference with the urban fabric of the city of
Tirana produces the iconic design of the square. This process that
generates a significant and distinctive formal identity capable of
acting as a true urban reference.At the same time it raises the
need to protect the most relevant elements of the historical memory
of the forma urbis of Tirana. The design concept considers the void
as an urban value, above all in light of the significant increase in
density taking place in Tirana; it re-captures the city’s ‘ground
zero’ and its horizontality, without building new volumes; on the
contrary it operates inside the city.Within our project, a
primary role is occupied by the concept of water as an urban design
tool, an element in continuous mutation over time, capable of
moulding and modifying space, without defining edges and geometries.
The project makes use of all of the physical states of this
element: liquid, water, solid, ice, gaseous and vapour. The
square is designed with a significant level of functional
thematization, as the sum and reciprocal interaction of dedicated
spaces, obtaining a strong level of functional multi-polarity,
capable of reflecting and representing the complexity of an urban
reality, in clear opposition to the possibilities offered by a vast,
indifferent and homogeneous space. The project negates any
possibility of intending the square as a monument, favouring the
introduction of the concept of entertainment, creating a space that
is an accumulation of multiple experiences – perceptive, cognitive,
physical, social, etc. The project, similar to a manifesto,
belongs to a strategy of urban marketing, part of the current
advertising competition taking place between various European
capitals that sees tourism as the primary resource of Albania’s
future development; Tirana’s central square is called upon to offer
a new and radically recognisable image.