Architecture & Design

Architecture & Design | 11 The Barrakka Lift Qim and Mnajdra Prehistoric Temples, or the secant piling retaining wall structures at Farsons and in an underground sewage pumping station in Xemxija. I have never really thought about my least favourite. And, in any case, talking about a least favourite building is as bad as talking about a least favourite child. WHAT CURRENT MALTA ARCHITECTURE PLEASES YOU AND WHAT HURTS? Good architecture in Malta is thoughtful architecture, architecture which tries to go beyond building, and beyond the design of a facade. An architecture that exploits materials, light, shadow, space, to create places which people inhabit and enjoy. What hurts most is first of all ignoring scale, such the massive monoliths that are the result of the exploitation of every centimeter allowed by the planning guidance rule book. What hurts is the bland attempts at "innovation" with, for example, pointless inclined columns, that are born from the drawing of lines on a flat paper, or computer screen, without any understanding of architectural proportion, or detail or composition. What hurts is the complete insensitivity of building adjacent to buildings of quality, (not only heritage buildings), or in streets with character. What hurts is the downright poor quality of some speculative buildings, for example with tiny, steep, staircases, and inaccessible elevators, designed to simply exploit plots which are really too small for what is intended. You will note that I used the word exploit a number of times. Perhaps, this is what I hate most - the exploitation and banalisation of our profession, simply for someone to make more money. WHO DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? I am not sure whether you mean somebody in the architecture world, and particularly in Malta. The contemporary architect who I admire most is Renzo Piano. In Malta, I admire Richard England, not only for his early pioneering work, where he translated our vernacular motives into contemporary design, in a way so natural that lesser architects have blatantly plagiarised in an attempt to create "modern architecture" - but also because he continued to re-invent himself, ultimately showing that contemporary architecture, in Malta, and also based on stone, was possible. I also admire a number of young (and not so young) architects who have bravely set for themselves a high standard of work - There are many, but I would certainly like to mention the Valentinos, Chris Briffa, MODEL Architects, Archi+; and I am sure I am not doing justice to the many others who do excellent work. As a tutor in the Faculty for so many years, one thing I can attest to is that there is a lot of brilliant talent in our young professionals. Unfortunately, these talented professionals do not necessarily get as many commissions as others who are only interested in the process of obtaining planning permission and "building". Speculative building is king, and the more popular architects are those who can delivery the most in the shortest possible time. This is why the quality of our urban environment is what it is. And this is why I believe that it should be mandatory, by law, for any publicly-funded project to be designed after an open design competition, as happens in other (perhaps more culturally aware) countries, so that the best talents have a chance to show their skills on a national scale, and this to the benefit on Malta and Gozo. Mriehel BOV interior

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