BIG named winner of the religious cultural centre in Tirana, Albania

Last night, the Danish practice BIG, led by Bjarke Ingels, announced that it had won the competition for the cultural centre in Tirana, Albania. The new 27,000 m² complex will bring together a mosque, an Islamic centre and a museum of religion. Among the five finalists was the French practice AS.Architecture-Studio, which competed against Zaha Hadid, Andreas Perea Ortega and Search.

The centre stands on Skanderbeg Square, which will become the new meeting place for the country's three main religions: Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism and Islam. It sits within a district undergoing restoration, alongside numerous public facilities, including the two recently completed churches.

The aim of the centre is to educate the public about the values of the Islamic religion; it is not meant to be simply a community space. The site is triangular, and crossed by the grid of the city. The practice has split the site to form two triangles and a square. The mosque requires its main façade to face towards Mecca, which sits at 45° to the axes of the urban grid. The architects have therefore rotated the upper part of the building, creating secondary squares around the mosque. The setting back of the buildings will allow these squares to be partially covered.

In terms of capacity, the mosque will accommodate nearly 1,000 people for daily prayers. The layout of the programme makes it possible to extend this to 5,000 places on Fridays, and even 10,000 for major events. A twisting concrete column will form the minaret opposite the mosque.

The façade draws directly on the mashrabiya of Islamic culture, resulting in a multitude of small rectangular openings. The sculpted form of the project will make active use of the quality of the sunlight throughout the day.

The mosque has been deliberately positioned facing the square, but also next to the two other places of worship. It is a strong signal of the city's determination to be tolerant towards the different religions that make up the nation.

BIG named winner of the religious cultural centre in Tirana, Albania – © BIG — © BIG

Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG, said: « This project is very important to us for two reasons. First, it is a privilege to contribute to the ambitious rejuvenation of the city of Tirana, all the more so because it does not rely on the random accumulation of singular monuments, but rather on carefully reconciling and considering a holistic urban plan. Second, and perhaps most importantly, religious tolerance is one of the greatest challenges of our time, politically, culturally and even in urban planning terms. With the construction of the new Tirana mosque, the Islamic Centre and the Museum of Religious Harmony, Tirana wishes to restore the balance by adding a mosque next to the recent Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals, making Tirana an example for the rest of the world as a global capital of religious harmony ».