architecture

Cubical Masterpiece

Stefano Boeri Architetti, a well-known Italian architect and urban planner, has unveiled his multifunctional building called Blloku Cube.
27 September, 2018
Located on the junction between the streets Pjeter Bogdani and Vaso Pasha, which in the heart of Tirana, the project is aimed at becoming an up-and-coming center of city life in Blloku district. The design features an anodized aluminum double-skin cladding, a pattern façade, which will become a magnificent piece of architecture that sharply stands out as surrounded by post-communist developments.
This seven-storey building is created to boast an intricate facade made up of three-dimensional aluminium triangles, which will act as a sunscreen to shade its glazed walls. Specified to make the cladding seemingly iridescent, the envelope doubles as an efficient shading system to improve energy efficiency. Francesca Cesa Bianchi, project director for Stefano Boeri Architetti, has stated that the cladding solution "was specifically designed for our first Albanian project, plays an essential role in defining the uniqueness of the building and contributes to underlining its importance as a new landmark of this urban district. The shielding system consists of 110 centimeter square modules, which only obscure the light for half of their surface owing to the presence of three dimensional triangles welded inside."
Image: ArchDaily
"The identity of the building is strongly characterized by a special cladding, a stand-out feature that makes it recognizable and unique in the city skyline and, at the same time, highly performing in terms of thermal efficiency, thanks to a "double skin" technological system," the architect's studio says.

"The resulting effect is that of a vibrant and iridescent surface, a pattern of aluminum triangles playing with the sunlight to create reflections in different nuances of colour," said Stefano Boeri, founding partner of Stefano Boeri Architetti.
Image:ArchDaily
The name of the building comes from its shape. It is a cubic architectural masterpiece, with a square ground floor plan measuring approximately 30 meters by 30 meters. The lower floor of the 1,116-square-metre building will be occupied by shopping facilities while the second floor will provide an unusual viewpoint for admiring the city view. The other five levels will be devoted to offices, while the seventh floor will accommodate a fascinating roof garden restaurant.

According to the official website of the designer, the construction of the Cube will be entirely managed by the Tirana branch of Stefano Boeri Architetti, which participates in "Tirana 2030" new town planning scheme of the Albanian capital. After winning an international contest, Stefano will be participate in the construction of three schools, destined to become the new hubs of social and cultural activities in the north western area of the city. Already under construction, Blloku Cube first began to emerge in the Blloku district during July 2018.
Images: Dezeen
The building is situated in one of the most prestigious districts of the Albanian capital, which, in the post-communist era, has gone from being a military zone of restricted access to a buzzing center of city life.
Banner image: Dezeen