PLAY FOR REAL

The tower these Belgian architects built in Tirana is a great architectural statement that adds to the typology of vertical structures. It transitions smoothly from a circle at its base (that liberates public space at street level) to a square at the top (that increases the occupancy in the more valuable upper floors).
They chose the right structural strategy and architectural language to conduct this transition, defining an element with a lot of surrounding space; it is in these spaces where the adjustment in the geometry from one floor to the next one takes place.
But their more lasting contribution may well be that they took the opportunity of this single building to improve the building codes for a country that had none. This certainly made their own work more difficult (complying with standards that nobody was asking for), nevertheless good architecture produces something that goes well beyond its own existence.