Work has begun on Stefano Boeri Architetti's Blloku Cube, the first building to break ground as part of the the Tirana 2030 regeneration scheme.

Based in Tirana’s upscale Ish-Blloku district, the seven-storey structure – which will include retail, office, and restaurant spaces – will feature a radiant cladding composed of anodised aluminium.

This metallic 'skin' will use sunlight to produce a broad spectrum of colours, ostensibly alluding to Stefano Boeri’s description of Tirana as a “kaleidoscopic city”.

In a statement, Francesca Cesa Bianchi, project director for Stefano Boeri Architetti said: “This particular cladding solution, specifically designed for our first Albanian project, plays an essential role in defining the uniqueness of the building and contributes to underline its importance as a new landmark of this urban district.”

The building is part of the first stage of Stefano Boeri’s urban regeneration of the Albanian capital, a task the firm was appointed to by Tirana’s municipal council in 2016.

Additional elements of the company's city planning programme include the creation of a green belt consisting of a 2-million-tree orbital forest on Tirana’s outskirts as well as the development of three community-focused public schools.

The programme, projected to be Albania’s largest urban reform in over twenty-five years, will be managed by UNLab and Inter.National.Design (IND).

Tirana Kaleodoscopic Metropolis from The Architecture Player on Vimeo.