The pride of Albania
Tirana celebrated its centenary in 2020 as the capital of Albania.
The city selected almost randomly to be the capital of Albania; today has become a western urban metropolis and one of the main economic engines of the country.
Civilization in this area is documented since the Illyrian periods, but its human population dates back to the Iron Age.
Tirana has always been a crossroads between early streets, although not much is said in history. The road from Dalmatia passed to Ulcinj, Shkodra, Lezha and went to the east of the country, passing through the outskirts of Tirana, through Qafë-Kërraba, Elbasan. Another important road was Egnatia Road, which connected all the central cities of Albania and continued towards Bitola, Thessaloniki, and Istanbul. In addition to its economic importance, the capital is also the most important financial and political centre of Albania due to its favourable location in the centre of the country and its modern connections with airlines, sea, railways, and transport routes that extend throughout the place. It is also the centre of the Government of Albania, where the official setting of the Presidency, the Parliament, and the Prime Minister’s office are located.
Recently, the capital has experienced unparalleled development in economic and infrastructural terms. One of the most ambitious projects is that of New Boulevard. This infrastructure project expands the city with new neighbourhoods and economic zones, thus meeting the growing demands of new residents that are added to the city, with estimated thousands of visitors each year. This new development area in the capital is expected to house new government and residential residences, turning it into a new social pole for the city and the region. Considerable attention has also been paid to cultural development in the capital. In the last ten years, dozens of start-up youth, social, cultural, and development centres have been opened. The culmination of this development peaked with the revitalization of the Pyramid, one of the landmark buildings of Tirana.
Today, the Pyramid comes to life with an ambitious project as the largest IT centre in the Balkans. The pyramid serves as a kind of incubator for businesses in the field of innovation, art, and creativity. The novelty of the centre’s revitalization lies in the fact that the TUMO model is a new kind of educational experience at the intersection of technology and design.
