A building with the aquiline profile of a 15th-century warrior is the latest proposal by MVRDV to transform Tirana, the capital of Albania. But not everyone is happy with the Dutch firm’s plans
With his distinctive aquiline nose and magnificent flowing beard, Albania’s national hero, Skanderbeg, has long been a familiar presence in the country’s streets and squares. The 7ft warrior king known as the Dragon of Albania, slayer of the Ottoman Turks, is celebrated in numerous monuments and reliefs, his imposing stature and fiery eyes keeping watch over the territory he fought for in the 15th century.
Now his face will loom larger over the capital than ever before. Construction has begun on an 85-metre-high block of apartments, offices and shops in the centre of Tirana, designed in the shape of Skanderbeg’s head. Images of the project depict an amorphous white tower ringed with balconies that ripple in and out to form a lumpy approximation of the hero’s features, imprinting his profile permanently on the skyline in concrete and glass. Wealthy future residents will be able to look out from the warrior’s eyes, hang out on his ears or dine alfresco on the end of his nose – from which greenery will dangle in an unfortunate snot-like drip.
