Unlimited Tirana(s) – New Dimensions

Tirana at the glance shows a lack of continuity or incoherence of the urban text, but observing it more closely this can be interpreted as diversity and richness of urban contexts. This characteristic that can be equally found at the small and big scale (starting from architecture), and the absolute “freedom” of the built form (from any context), requires a degree of unconventional mindset to understand and to propose hypothesis for solution at different scales of urban hierarchy: architecture, city and metropolitan level. Despite these facts that make Tirana so different from many other western European cities, I will try to apply on this specific context some well known theoretical concepts. For the purpose of this paper, I will start by describing Tirana(s) and the main “pieces” the city is made of. I will count at least “5 Tirana(s)”, among which the study area. Further, the main characteristics of the study area, especially those considered as problematic, will be given in a positively re-framed version, trying to argue how these features can contribute to preserve the original character of the area. The all-inclusive approach is the underlying philosophy, so the recommendations given at the end try not to be deterministic and to leave an open framework.