This amazing pyramid may become the new landmark building of Tirana, the capital of Albania. It was built in 1988 as a museum dedicated to the communist dictator’s honor Enver Hoxha, this interesting building has already lived many lives: respectively conference centre, NATO base (during the Kosovo war in 1999), nightclub before being abandoned and handed over to the slums. Ultimately, Rotterdam-based international architectural firm MVRDV took responsibility for the complete overhaul of this all-concrete monument. Local people really wanted to preserve this building, and authorities approved the conversion project in 2017.
At the end of a €22m renovation, this sinister, abandoned place is waking up like a popular sculpture opening into a new park. The concrete structure has been preserved but has new bay windows, is covered with new staircases and is decorated on all sides with new buildings. The aim is for the place to become a center focusing on new technologies. Here you will find start-up offices, incubators, as well as workshops, studios and cafes. Open to local people and tourists, the pyramid will host free training on new technologies for local youth, as well as festivals.
Fighting against brain drain
Officially opened on the occasion of the European summit on October 16, this multi-coloured pyramid has already been adopted by both locals and holidaymakers. wayOslo opera The top of the pyramid, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to its roof, is already a very popular place. It is true that the people’s attachment to this pyramid also stemmed from the fact that they saw it as a symbol of their victory over a hated regime. After the death of the dictator, Albanian youth loved to gather around this ruined structure, without hesitation to go up to the roof, which was dangerous at that time.
Now you climb using gently inclined stairs and even an elevator to the top. As for the multi-colored “boxes” scattered around the pyramid, it will accommodate half of them non-profit educational institution TUMO Tirana. It will offer free extracurricular training to young people aged 12-18 on mastering different software, robotics, animation, music and cinema. TUMO, which was founded in Armenia in 2011 and has since spread to Europe, aims to be a tool against brain drain that could threaten the economy of countries such as Albania.
