BIG MAPS THE TREE OF FAITH ONTO THE SLOPES OF TIRANA, ALBANIA

BIG has won the international competition to design Faith Park – a new 200,000-m² public park on the hillsides outside of Tirana, Albania. Laid out as a genealogical tree of faith, the park branches from a shared origin in the valley into three routes, guiding visitors through gardens, olive groves, and forested slopes toward nine pavilions – each dedicated to a different spiritual tradition. Framed by gardens inspired by geographic and spiritual origins, the pavilions are constructed in materials including Jerusalem limestone for Judaism; colored Italian marble for Christianity; white sandstone mosaic for Islam; and granite, onyx, marble, and river-polished stone for the Dharmic and East Asian traditions. The Museum of Remembrance is formed from nine rammed-earth volumes arrayed around a central garden, celebrating diversity and unity at the entrance of the Park. “In the time of the Anthropocene, where our removal from nature and our presence on the planet has become so substantial and so damaging, it seems that we must return to our common roots – to begin worshipping our natural environment, our ecosystem, our shared planet that we call home. In that sense, it feels almost inevitable that the Park of Faith – organized like a livable, inhabitable evolutionary tree of faith mapped onto the natural topography of a mountain, connecting the valley to the summit, the earth to the heavens, and rooted in respect for nature – is a project the world is longing for, whether we know it yet or not.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG