Houses of Tirana

As it says on the internet, in the year 2000 Albania's capital Tirana got itself a new mayor Edi Rama, a former artist/painter whose first idea was to give the city a visual face-lift. Down went the old kiosks, up went 1800 new trees and many grey old concrete buildings were repainted. My favourite is the block house with autumn leaves on it. Quality humor.

Hard to say if I'd like to live in this sort of festival on a daily basis but you gotta admire the man's vision. They really had nothing to lose in case of this autumn-leaved house, right? The fact that the surroundings don't take themselves too seriously is refreshing. Compare to London's South Kensington or some other historic and seriously beautiful architecture.

"Being the mayor of Tirana is the highest form of conceptual art.

It's art in a pure state." (Edi Rama)