High-rise architecture continues to serve as a primary tool for accommodating density in rapidly evolving urban environments. Traditionally defined by efficiency and repetition, the tower is increasingly being reexamined as a more complex spatial and organizational system. Across different geographies, architects are testing how vertical structures can move beyond singular functions to incorporate layered programs, environmental strategies, and new forms of occupation.
The initial phase of the complete renovation project for the National Historical Museum in Tirana is approaching completion. The project was commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Culture, and Innovation of Albania and UNOPS, and financed by the European Commission through the EU for Culture (EU4C) program in Albania. The full restoration of the museum's 21,400 square meters is planned in two phases, led by Rotterdam-based Casanova + Hernandez Architects in collaboration with local partner iRI. The first phase consists of restoring the existing building in Skanderbeg Square and is expected to be completed this year, enabling the immediate start of the second phase, focused on implementing the new design for all interior spaces, the courtyard, and the roof.
Bofill Taller de Arquitectura has revealed the final images of a new resort in Dhërmi, Albania, currently under construction. The project was first announced in 2024, in the context of the numerous developments proposed across the country over the past decade. This time, the project is neither a skyscraper nor an institutional building in Tirana, but a resort set along the mountainous coastline in the south of the country. The design responds to the existing landscape conditions, a coastal, mountainous area surrounded by forests that cover a significant portion of Albania's land surface. The project aims to preserve the character of the forest while engaging with the rugged terrain, jagged rocks, steep mountainsides, and dense pine and cypress forests.
In recent years, Albania has undergone a rapid and visible transformation, emerging as one of the most active urban environments in Southeast Europe. This growth is not only reflected in the expansion of its built fabric but also in the scale and ambition of new architectural interventions that seek to redefine the country's image. Across its territory, a series of large developments, cultural institutions, and infrastructural projects are being introduced as part of a broader effort to reposition Albania and its capital, Tirana, within regional and international networks.
This week's news brings together developments in professional recognition, cultural programming, and large-scale urban strategy, reflecting the multiple scales at which architecture shapes contemporary discourse. As the field anticipates the next Pritzker Architecture Prize announcement, conversations around authorship, civic responsibility, and long-term impact unfold alongside the American Institute of Architects' 2026 Honorary Fellowship appointments, situating individual achievement within broader institutional frameworks. At the same time, updates from Riyadh to London foreground the role of architecture in both enabling new cultural platforms and safeguarding post-war heritage. Complementing these narratives, the reassignment of the 2029 Asian Winter Games and progress on expansive public landscapes highlight how cities are aligning infrastructure delivery, environmental resilience, and territorial planning with long-term economic and social agendas.
Heritage sites constitute complex spatial archives in which architecture, history, and collective memory converge. They encompass a wide spectrum of contexts—from archaeological remains, ancient and historic townscapes, UNESCO-listed landscapes, to early modern civic structures and industrial infrastructures. Yet these environments confront challenges: climate change, urban transformation, disaster, shifting social needs, and the gradual erosion of material fabric. Revitalization and restoration projects respond to these conditions by positioning architectural and spatial practice as an active mediator between preservation and the contemporary topologies.
Rojkind Arquitectos, in collaboration with artist Pedro Reyes, SON Architects, Motus Holdings, and ASAB, has been selected as the winner of the mixed-use component in the International Concept Design and Build Competition for the redevelopment of the Zyber Hallulli site in Tirana, Albania. Organized by the Albanian Investment Corporation in partnership with the National Agency for Territorial Planning, the competition was launched in September 2025, with the jury announcing its decision on January 29, 2026. The proposal led by the Mexico-based office was awarded the mixed-use development, while a separate Mexican practice, Taller Héctor Barroso, was selected to design CASA FAMILIA, a new children's campus to be built on a greener, more child-oriented site.
Collective housing remains one of the most active areas for unbuilt architectural exploration, revealing how architects are rethinking domestic life, density, and shared living across different cultural and environmental contexts. In this curated Unbuilt edition, submitted by the ArchDaily community, the selected proposals investigate new forms of dwelling that span mobile units, vertical developments, adaptive reuse, and landscape-driven residential clusters. Rather than treating housing as a purely functional container, these projects position it as a social and spatial framework that shapes everyday life, community ties, and long-term urban resilience.
Tirana, the capital of Albania, is experiencing a rapid transformation driven by the long-term urban strategy outlined in the Tirana 2030 (TR030) Master Plan. Developed in 2017 by Stefano Boeri Architetti, UNLAB, and IND [Inter.National.Design] through a competition organized by the Ministry of Urban Development, the plan's objectives include increasing urban density, improving public infrastructure, and integrating green spaces and open areas into the urban fabric. It is in this dynamic setting that MVRDV has won the international competition for Tirana's new Asllan Rusi Sports Palace. Conceived as a mixed-use development, the project, named The Grand Ballroom, combines a 6,000-seat arena for basketball and volleyball with residential apartments, a hotel, and ground-level retail. With its spherical form exceeding 100 metres in diameter, the design adds a distinctive landmark to Tirana's growing collection of ambitious architectural projects.
Infrastructure has long defined the backbone of cities by linking people, landscapes, and economies through systems that often go unnoticed until they fail. Today, as global challenges demand more adaptive and human-centered responses, architects are rethinking what infrastructure can be: not just a framework for movement and utility, but a catalyst for ecological restoration, cultural continuity, and civic imagination. The following unbuilt projects, submitted by the ArchDaily community, explore this expanded role of infrastructure, where airports, bridges, industrial parks, and pedestrian networks become architectural expressions of connection and care.
