Ballet-inspired double skyscraper design tricks the eye
By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN
(CNN) — In Albania’s capital Tirana, where a spate of new towers will soon transform the skyline, architects have revealed plans for a new double skyscraper that will bend elegantly like a ballet dancer’s plié, or a lover leaning in for a kiss.
These were two of the visual cues for Bond Tower, a 50-story residential building and hotel that seems to trick the eye. Designed by Portuguese architecture firm OODA, the skyscraper will feature two connected structures that gently separate before rejoining one other, giving it a warped effect.
Residents will stay on one side and hotel guests on the other, with office space and retail mixed in on several of the floors. The rolling mountains surrounding the city will be visible in the negative space between the buildings, explained Diogo Brito, a partner at OODA.
Located on the corner of a major avenue, the silhouette of Bond Tower shifts depending on which direction it’s approached from, he added.
“We found this idea of having this dance between these two volumes… like a gentle encounter on the corner,” Brito said in a phone interview. “It is very important to us to have this equilibrium — this balanced the beauty of form and shape.”
The architectural team designed the shape using multiple visual references, including the “grace” of a ballet dancer’s movement and the romantic gesture of Gustav Klimt’s famous 1908 painting “The Kiss.”
But OODA also wanted to integrate Tirana’s natural landscape into the design, which Brito said is sustainability-minded thanks to its carbon-absorbing stone cladding. “The thing that strikes you the most when you land in Tirana is the presence of those mountains, and to have (them visible) through that gap is something that was also interesting for us to picture,” he added.
Aside from its visual appeal, the the unusual shape also offers structural sturdiness in an area prone to earthquakes, Brito explained.
The project will break ground by the end of the year, according to the architect, with the tower scheduled for completion by the end of 2028. It will be one of many new buildings sending the Albanian capital’s skyline soaring and turning the city into an architectural destination.
Earlier this month, Albania’s National Territorial Council approved a new tower that would become the city’s tallest building, according to local news reports. Several other high-rises are already under construction in the capital, including two 58-floor skyscrapers: Mount Tirana by Denmark’s CEBRA architecture and Tirana Tour by Spain’s Bofill Arquitectura.
And, in January, Architectural Digest magazine recognized one of the city’s newest jewels — a monumental, colorful pyramid by Dutch studio MVRDV, revamped from a dilapidated former museum — as one of the world’s best new architectural projects.
OODA alone is working on three other projects in the city, including a new television station headquarters inspired by a stack of film reels. This month, OODA will break ground on a greenery filled residential tower called Hora Vertikale that was designed as a “vertical village,” according to the firm.
On the avenue where Bond Tower will rise, Brito expects that OODA’s design will soon be joined by other high-rise companions.
“In Albania, the years to come — let’s say the next 10 to 15 years — will be something really special,” he said.
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