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14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 DECEMBER 2022 NEWS JAM ES DEBONO PLANS for the demolition of the iconic Palazzina Vincen- ti on the St Julian's prome- nade to make way for a bland 14-storey hotel by hotelier Carlo Stivala and designed by architect Robert Musumeci, were presented last year and resubmitted in Octo- ber. But in a setback for the developers on Tuesday, the Plan- ning Authority de- cided to extend an emergency conserva- tion first issued last year, granting tem- porary protection to Palazzina Vincenti. This means that Palazzina Vincenti in St Julian's is still con- sidered to be "heritage at risk" and will be protected from demolition for another year until the PA determines what level of long-term protection it merits. The decision coincided with the publication of a new book by Kite Group and authored by architect David Ellul, which gives plenty of reasons why the building should be granted long-term protection. Built at a cost of £31,397 and completed in 1951 on the site of a townhouse demol- ished in World War II, Pala- zzina Vincenti in St Julian's was the chosen abode of one Malta's leading architects and developers in the 20th centu- ry. The building is described as one of Gustave Vincenti's "greatest masterpieces" and "a breakthrough for a new ar- chitectural language" which deserves recognition for "its grandeur" and "avant garde aesthetics", which created a "paradigm" for Malta's post- war reconstruction. The book makes no reference to the latest plans to demolish the building but its publica- tion could not have been more "timely", as noted by architect Edward Said who in his intro- duction to the book refers to "rapid and radical changes" in the country's built environ- ment which "would horrify Perit Vincenti". In his book David Ellul seeks to redress the injustice deeply felt by Vincenti's son Hiliare "that no national recognition has been given to his father as an influential architect who had an impact on Malta's his- torical and architectural de- velopment." The book casts a light on the life of developer and pro- lific architect Gus- tave Vincenti, in the context of the inter- national influenc- es which shaped his vision. He not only visited the British Empire exhibition at Wembley in 1924 but was also inspired by the high-rise build- ings being developed in the USA, as demonstrated by his personal archives which in- clude hanging prints of vari- ous buildings in New York. One of a kind: a developer with a sense of aesthetics Vincenti was not just a bril- liant architect but also an en- trepreneur who could smell a business opportunity as he did in 1925 when he bought land between Main Street and (lat- er) Borg Olivier Street in St Julian's for the development of nine houses. He also set his eyes on plots of land be- ing sold in Sliema. But unlike modern developers who show little concern for aesthetics, Vincenti used his property investments to push architec- tural boundaries. Initially he did so by experi- menting with art nouveau and intertwining it with Maltese traditional elements, includ- ing the closed window balco- Book casts new light on St Julian's threatened modernist building Gustave Vincenti and his wife Maria Stella at home at Palazzina Vincenti A shot of the interior of Palazzina Vincennti