Metamorphosis of the Pyramid of Tirana by MVRDV

In collaboration with Tirana’s IRI Architecture studio, MVRDV have transformed a monument to Communist dictatorship into a welcoming, democratic place for the denizens of the Albanian capital. This monument to Communist dictatorship lost its purpose with the end of the regime in 1991, after which it served consecutively as a radio station, night club, conference centre and, during the Kosovo War, a NATO base. 

A non-profit educational institution

In 2017, the government led by Prime Minister Edi Rama resolved to repurpose the 12 000-m² area, which is just a few hundred metres from the central Skanderbeg Square and the Blloku entertainment district, into a centre devoted to culture and education. The Albanian-American Development Foundation and the municipality of Tirana are providing financial support for the project. 

Transformation of a Brutalist monument

The planners stripped the Brutalist structure to its concrete structure and opened it up to its green surroundings like a landscape sculpture. On rainy days, horizonal glass flaps close between the concrete ribs of the building. On the sloping exterior walls, stairs lead up to an observation platform that is also accessible by lift. In memory of the unauthorized sliding sessions that took place over the marble-clad inclines before renovation work began, one exterior wall has been left without stairs. Now made safe with sidewalls, this slope again invites visitors to glide down.

A colourful spatial program

MVRDV have accommodated the spatial program in 48 colourful cubes. Like building blocks in a child’s bedroom, they are scattered in, on and around the structure; moreover, they gleam in RAL colours arranged according to brightness: for instance, the boxes inside the pyramids are brighter, while those farther from the centre of the pyramid are more muted. Around half of the area is used by the non-profit educational institution TUMO, which offers 12- to 18-year-olds free courses in media-related technology. The remaining half has been given over to the public in the form of cafés, restaurants, start-up offices and studios. 

The boxes inside and on the pyramid are in bright colours, while those farther away have been kept in pastel shades. © MVRDV, Foto: Ossip van Duivenbode

At the end of the 1990s, the daughter of authoritarian Communist leader Enver Hoxha designed the impressive museum to stand in the centre of Tirana and honour the head of state. The Brutalist concrete edifice, which was clad with slabs of white marble and crowned with a red, star-shaped skylight, was the most expensive building ever realized by the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania. 

Read more in Detail 1-2.2024 and in our databank Detail Inspiration.