TIRANA, Sep 1 – Skanderbeg Square, at the center of Tirana, will begin to be restored this month, according to the Tirana city hall.
The reconstruction project is part of a 10 million euro project with half of the funds coming from Kuwait and the other half from the city hall budget.
To avoid traffic problems, reconstruction work will begin in the square’s periphery, since the ring road that is expected to take over some of the traffic is not yet completed.
The Belgian architecture studio, 51N4E, won the international competition to design and supervise the rehabilitation of the square.
The Brussels-based firm’s project is expected, beside the actual square’s reconstruction, to address the streetscape design of the entries to the square, the usage of underground development and the reconstruction of old buildings.
The square houses the National History Museum, the Palace of Culture, a group of government buildings built by Italians in the 1930s including the red-brick National Bank, the Et’hem Bey Mosque and the Skanderbeg Statue.
