Valerio Olgiati Reveals Plans For Trio Of Concrete Skyscrapers In Tirana

Swiss architect Valerio Olgiati has unveiled a mixed-use development set to comprise "three totemic figures" in Tirana, Albania.

Named Rruga Adem Jashari, the development by Olgiati will include three skyscrapers reaching 150 metres, 192 metres and 266 metres, which will contain a hotel and apartment block.

The towers will be built from red-toned concrete blocks sat atop a large concrete base.

Connected to the towers by a plaza, a stepped pyramid structure rendered in white concrete will centre the development and contain a retail area that extends below ground.

"The architectural idea is based on the archaic gesture of putting blocks on top of each other," Olgiati said. "This idea is expressed through the facade pillars, pigmented concrete blocks which follow a very precise structural logic."

"These pillars physically manifest the forces involved in the structure and the towers appear as three totemic figures," he added.

Visualisations reveal the towers' structures, which recess towards their tops and are defined by structural concrete pillars.

To emphasise a connection between the development and its neighbouring park, pine trees will be added to the towers' roof levels.

Renders of the central retail space reveal a ziggurat-like shape wrapped with protruding staircases that will provide access to the structure's upper levels.

According to Olgiati, pine trees will also be planted at each level so that "the whole building is perceived as a garden".

Inside, the spaces will be organised with a flexible arrangement and finished with exposed concrete and marble.

"The floor plans are thought in a way that the structural elements allow a free and flexible arrangement of internal partitions," Olgiati said.

Construction is set to begin in the autumn of this year.

Other projects set to be completed in Tirana include a mixed-use high-rise composed of house-shaped "puzzle pieces" and a kinked skyscraper intended to evoke "the grace of ballet".

The renders are courtesy of Archive Olgiati.