The Brussels-based firm 51N4E has already completed more than ten projects in Albania. In June, they won the European Prize for Public Space for the central Skanderbeg Square in the capital, Tirana. We saw just how 51N4E had succeeded in transforming a square into a genuine communal space when we spent an afternoon there this summer.

In 2008, Edi Rama, then mayor of Tirana and now Prime Minister of Albania, launched an architectural competition for the city’s most important square. In his personal letter, he explicitly called for the assistance of a foreign architect who could develop a vision without being hindered by the emotional weight of the site. ¹ The Brussels-based firm 51N4E has been working for several years in this former communist country, which is still in a transitional phase. 51N4E’s proposal for the square is simple and clear: a large mineral square, surrounded by greenery, forming an oasis of calm in the middle of a chaotic city with heavy traffic. This proposal might seem simplistic, were it not such a clever design, finely attuned to the site. 1 A competition for Skanderbeg Square. The time has come. (…) In order to find the answers, we need assistance from those who view Skanderbeg Square from the outside, whose eyes have not been clouded by the history we have lived through and who are trained in dealing with such conceptual battles, free from prejudices towards the heritage of the past and with no fear of what the future may bring in this challenging space (…) What will happen?