The office of the Prime Minister in Tirana, Albania is a building that has been closed to the public ever since it was built, regardless of the political system. The Centre for Openness and Dialogue, or COD, opens up the ground floor with a select and intense series of spaces and on-site artworks: a public foyer and exhibition hall, a press room and auditorium, a public library and presentation space, plus a meeting room and working space.

The refurbishment challenges the rigid architecture of the past with a flexible and open way of use. In the main entrance hall, the existing ceiling has been laid bare and transformed into a fully equipped technical framework which, complemented with a set of large, movable green velvet curtains, creates a powerful background for exhibitions as well as official events. Further on, a wooden auditorium shaped as a detached wooden box cuts through an existing room, providing, on the one hand, intimate and secluded surroundings, while, on the other hand, opening up to the corridor for spontaneous entries. On the opposite side of the corridor, a public library and presentation space are organized by a rhythmic sequence of curtains, making it possible to turn the space into either a series of small cabinets or a single hall. Partly wool, partly industrial lace, the curtains, together with a wooden tapestry on the floor, embody and challenge the COD’s domestic and public dimension.

• Location

  Tirana, Albania

• Client

  Prime Minister’s Office

• Design

  2015

• Completion

  2015

• In collaboration with

  Doorzon Interieurarchitecten

• 51N4E project team

  Johan Anrys, Freek Persyn, Olivier Cavens, Matthieu Moreau

• 51N4E involvement

  Full process

• Artists

  Philippe Parreno, Carsten Höller

• Consultants

  TTAS, Genti Lipe

• Programme

  Refurbishment of the Office of the Prime Minister of Albania; public library, foyer, exhibition space, auditorium, meeting room, offices

• Built surface

  837 m²

• Photography

  Filip Dujardin, Blerta Kambo, Prime Minister’s Office