Colour, concrete and the new Tirana: the back story

About Colour, concrete and the new Tirana: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Tirana Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Tirana is a city that experiments. Its colourful buildings became a symbol of the capital’s new start, and the experiments have not stopped since.

Painting the city

In the early 2000s the city painted apartment blocks along its main streets in bright colours and geometric patterns, an artist-led project that drew international attention. Some colours have faded, but you will still see them along the Lana and around the centre.

Skanderbeg Square, 2017

Skanderbeg Square was redesigned as a huge pedestrian plaza in 2017, paved with stones from every region of Albania, with water features and gardens around its edges. It is now the city’s stage for concerts, markets and the New Year.

The colours turned grey blocks into a canvas.

The Pyramid reborn

The Pyramid, built in 1988 as a museum, stood neglected for years. Renovated and reopened in 2023, it now houses TUMO Tirana, a technology centre for young people, with colourful boxes around it and steps up its sloping sides to the top.

A new skyline

New towers by international architects are rising around the centre. Whatever you think of them, they show a city in a hurry to grow.

Our advice: walk from Skanderbeg Square down the boulevard to the Pyramid and climb it for the view, then wander along the Lana to see what remains of the painted façades. Come back to the square in the evening, when it fills with people.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Colour, concrete and the new Tirana: the back story before you go.