The transition from city to park
The development of the area between the city of Tirana and the Parku i Madh holds a great potential of creating a new physical urban landscape where the inhabitants of the city can meet in a human scale environment. From being a border between the everyday city life and the green recreational park life – the area will be transformed into what we call a “threshold”, a spatial transition not only urban neither only recreational. At the same time the new threshold creates a connection from the Mother Theresa Square to the Lake. This way the threshold becomes a mental transition from the past towards the future as a democratic gesture for the people of Tirana.

The public threshold
Placed on a mountain slope the public threshold is created by combining two different languages: The soft scape of the park and the hard scape of the city. In This way merging the best qualities from the two different worlds into one.
Soft scape – the language of the park with greenery, tall trees and wood.
Hard scape – the language of the city with hard surfaces, stones and photocatalitic concrete: materials and technologies available, durable and easy to maintain.
Combined the new languages of the public threshold offers various possibilities for new activities to take place. Through inventive and innovative interpretations of the two more classic typologies the new public threshold contains a great potential to develop its own unique language physically expressing the future public life of Tirana.

An opening and a closure
The buildings that are placed in this threshold contribute with their volumes to create squares and volumetric rhythm along the edge of the threshold. The sequence of those buildings is carefully related to the needed functions in a way that the building contributes to the public life being themselves an active part of the threshold.
On both sides of the existing university, enhancing and emphasizing the axiality of the beautiful existing building, the new university administration office will be placed and the new university facilities will be formed as a totally integrated building in the landscape. The threshold is initiated by a new transparent mediatheque emerging out of the university building. The mediatheque offers a new program and a new functionality both for the university and the public life.
The new volume of the mediatheque is mirroring the front volume of the existing university and thereby introducing the entrance to the public threshold.
Between the mediatheque and the new building of the police department a new city square will be created around the renewed police museum, the rest of the buildings will be pulled down in order to create a clear special relationship between the mediatheque the museum and the police department. Along the public threshold then we will place the public service. The sequence of all the buildings will make sure that public life will span from Mother Theresa’s square along the Madhe Park, including in a natural way the new Olgiatis office building, towards the lake. Through the public thresholds the buildings are situated with care for the public life and attention to the human scale. At the end of the threshold we propose a new public boat house situated on the edge of the lake creating an ending point for the all threshold and utilizing the water as a recreational resource for the people of Tirana.

Velocities - fast vs. slow
The Public threshold contains two different kinds of movement. A fast direct movement from the city to the park and a slow movement for enjoying a more recreational stroll.
Across the threshold 7 big stairs brings the people directly from the level of the city to the level of the park. Some of the stairs are outdoor stairs open 24 hours a day as gates to the park. Other stairs are inside the new buildings creating a possible movement through the volume from the city to the park. Stairs are not the only access to the park.
Along the public threshold the new landscape is shaped as ramps creating a slow movement from the city level to the park level. The ramps make it possible to climb the small mountain slope with bikes and prams and at the same time increase the accessibility for the disabled. Once on the upper edge of the threshold, also the long recreational stroll creates multiple possibilities for pauses along the route and other diverse recreational activities.

A human scale
Because of the way the buildings are placed in the new public threshold they act as mediators between the big scale of the city and the small scale of the park - linking the two together. In this way the new volumes become recognizable in both areas, ensuring tranquility in the transition between them. The mediator introduces a human scale between government and civic life – creating generous public spaces connecting to the city and the park.
The design is deeply rooted in a Scandinavian tradition where the public spaces are treated with a high degree of dignity, quality in the selecting materials and an understanding of creating physical form serving the democratic public life.

The arch - transforming the arch according to function
The buildings are not only mediators. They are also attractors because of their appearance and their architectural performance.
As a design parameter for creating an expression of the different buildings we have tried to find a “motive” that’s recognizable for the area and its context. We have chosen to work with the classical arch as a creative obstruction. Not copying the arch but using it in new ways. In this way each building obtains a different recognizable look due to its function but within the same spatial pallet.
Arches are used as a structure, which carries both the floor plans of the buildings as well as the large roof, naturally ventilated below. This roof creates a shade for the transparent interior ensuring comfort and nice working environment in the offices, views to the threshold and a beautiful spatial expression. In this way the new language of the arc achieves a three-layered purpose: Structure, Shade and artistic contextual reference.

The treshold - hard scape to soft scape
Placed on a mountain slope the public threshold is created by combining two different languages: The soft scape of the park and the hard scape of the city. In this way merging the best qualities from the two different worlds into one.
Soft scape – the language of the park with greenery, tall trees and wood.
Hard scape – the language of the city with hard surfaces, stones and photocatalitic concrete.
Combined the new languages of the public threshold offers various possibilities for new activities to take place. Through Inventive and innovative interpretations of the two more classic typologies the new public threshold contains a great potential to develop its own unique language physically expressing the future public life of Tirana.

The mediatheque & library
The threshold is initiated by a new transparent building, dedicated to a mediatheque & library, emerging out of the landscape and of the university building.
The mediatheque & library is a mixed-program public facility which combines library and university facilities.
The building is composed of three main elements: arches, plates and skin.
Arches are used as a structure, which carries both the floor plans of the buildings as well as the roof, naturally ventilated below. Each floor is a round plate visually and physically connected with all the others, creating an inner dynamic. The mediatheque & library building offers a new program and a new functionality both for the university, public life and citizen:
- basement: parking area easily accessible from Parku i Madh street;
- ground floor: information desk, café, canteen, outside spaces for visitors and reading rooms.
- first - third floor: library and reading rooms, - fifth -seventh floor: mediatheque and study spaces.
Around and through the new mediatheque & library building is possible to enjoy both different kind of movement:
Passing through the building, people can directly walk from the level of the street (where there is the city entrance) to the level of the park.
Meantime, along the public threshold the new landscape is shaped as ramps creating a slow movement from the city level to the park level. Ramps and stairs make it possible to climb the small mountain slope with bikes and prams and at the same time increase the accessibility for the disabled.
The new volume of the mediatheque & library is mirroring the front volume of the existing Polytechnic University Building as an open and transparent twin.
The building share with the Polytechnic the same level of the access (+5.00 m). In this way, both buildings are connected thanks to the new threshold of the Park through paths, green areas and activities spaces.