Archaeologists of the future will most likely judge our society on the basis of the ruins of modern apartments, hotels and public utilities they unearth. But when faced with the question of whether there is any building constructed in the past half century worthy of conservation in the first place, David Felice admits that there are very few.
“And the problem is, we’re not even protecting those,” he laments.
According to Felice, the demolition of the Qala School in March 2006 is “a reflection of our attitude towards quality architecture.”
MEPA had allowed the destruction of the Qala school despite a damning report by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s internal auditor and dean of the Architecture Faculty, Joe Falzon.
The school was designed and built in the early 1960s when, following the introduction of the 1946 Education Act, an attempt was made to provide a school in all our towns and villages.
Designed by Joseph Huntingford (1926-1994), a Maltese architect employed by Government, the school stood out as one of the finest examples of modern architecture on the islands.
The Qala school comprised a series of finger blocks perpendicular to the street, linked by open covered walkways, the classrooms organized on two storeys with their own resource room, and open courtyards. The finger blocks were separated by landscaped gardens.
This was one of the rare occasions when the government, in its role as patron of architecture, gave architects like Huntingford a free hand to apply their creativity for the public good.
“A lot of the buildings that were going up in the 1950s and the 1960s, particularly schools, were incredibly interesting. But since the early 1970s we have gone through a phase were building, rather than architecture, became the name of the game. When a country needs a lot of infrastructure, it happens that quality is sacrificed to quantity,” Felice recriminates.
Yet now that everyone is talking about the need of excellence in all sectors, architecture cannot be left in the cold: “If we are really serious and we want to have excellence in tourism and other sectors we must realise that this needs the context of a quality environment.”
Perhaps due to the bitter experience of the last decades, the public tends to associate quality architecture with the past and has an aversion to modern design.
“The aversion to modern design is a reaction. Frankly if the general public is seeking quality it has to look at historical buildings. What people seem to have forgotten is that whatever architecture we make today, it’s going to be the heritage of tomorrow.”
Felice also regrets that the government is not taking a leading role in ensuring quality architecture in its own projects.
In its recently approved document “The Urban Challenge”, the KTP complains that despite the occasional isolated embellishment project by local or central government, the public realm is on the whole an ad hoc collection of minimum dimension, badly constructed pavements and a varied infrastructure of randomly placed, utilitarian street furniture.
“Our once elegant, respectful piazzas are now no more than congested traffic junctions or informally arranged car parks, where pedestrians are at the mercy of vehicular traffic. Public art, particularly that which provokes pedestrian interaction, is almost completely absent,” the document claims.
Felice points out that every country in the European Union and most EU cities have some kinf of architecture policy. Malta still lacks a national policy on architecture.
“It should not just be yet another document… it should be a policy which sets achievable targets.”
The KTP is also calling for the setting up of a National Centre for the Built Environment which will include a Built Environment Review Commission, whose role would be that of advising the government, private developers and MEPA on design quality in architecture.
“For the past years we have been looking at MEPA as the centre of everything. If you talk to people in MEPA you will discover that they are not happy with this situation. MEPA should be focusing on what it’s meant to do: planning. By having a review commission we could leave design in the hands of experts and other key players.”
Felice insists that architecture should not be considered as the realm of architects. architecture has to be owned by the public
“We need the participation of all the other players. We would like to get the NGOs and developers and the experts to come up together with quality architectural design.”
The Urban Challenge gives a damning picture on the sort of development being allowed in Malta.
The document warns that the revised building height designations produced development frenzy in our towns and villages leading to the destruction of the very same qualities that made them attractive.
It also denounces that in the property market, the products on offer do not present value for money. It also warns that the high cost of land is putting pressure on developers to maximize on built volume and to minimize dwelling sizes, leading to higher densities and a shortage of much needed outdoor amenity space and often compromising the quality of the neighbouring environment.
Alarmingly this situation is leading to the creation of new undesirable residential quarters with poor quality dwellings in inhospitable settings, resulting in new urban ghettos.
“This could prove catastrophic for the quality of life of our citizens, leading to greater marginalisation in society. The property market itself will also suffer, as will the island’s attractiveness as a centre for investment and/or residence,” the report ominously warns.
Felice points out that although the attention of the media focuses on mega projects the most unsavoury development is taking place on the house next door, in towns and villages previously untouched by development.
But are architects not also responsible for the low quality of architecture and designing these new urban ghettos?
David Felice does not exonerate the architect profession of its responsibilities. “As architects we have to say that we have a great responsibility… The architect’s responsibility is towards his clients, the profession and the community at large. Our greatest responsibility is to ensure good quality architecture which has a positive impact on quality of life.”
Felice also thinks that developers’ obsession with maximising the largest number of apartments in the smallest area possible is in itself economically counter-productive.
“What the document says is that we need a sharp change of direction where quality becomes the priority. If we want economic competitiveness instead of emphasising the volume of something we must emphasise the actual quality.”
Without letting architects off the hook, Felice points his finger at the planning regime for creating many of the current problems.
“Probably most controversies we talk about would not even arise if planning policies are clear. Of course we have to be fair to MEPA. It has taken over great responsibilities, sometimes to fill a vacuum, and sometimes as part of its habit to try to control everything.”
According to Felice, the Kamra tal-Periti is in a privileged position of listening to developers, MEPA and NGOs.
Felice also feels the need for what he calls a construction platform involving all stakeholders in the sector.
“Surely we need a network to get the regulators together to harmonise regulations involving construction.”
One example involves the energy conservation regulations. “The Malta Resources Authority appears to be the regulator but architects are also expected to regulate themselves. But where is the education to explain what the process is and what the regulation will be leading to?”
The same applies to the impact of the development on neighbouring environment.
“It is time to get the different authorities regulating health and safety on sites together.”
According to the KTP the establishment of a “Construction Platform” would provide a clearer reference point for developers, design professionals and the general public. It will provide continual training and professional development, the certification of tradesmen and the licensing and classification of service providers will help ensure that construction practice improves.
Another issue where architecture has an important contribution to make is climate change.
“We don’t really talk about climate change in Malta. We think of it as some obscure reality which will impact on much bigger countries. Certainly buildings are one of the major contributors to climate change. That is why something like the energy regulations should be important to us. Surely we must realise that measures we can take now are a hell of a lot cheaper than the measures we will have to take in five or 10 years’ time, when the cost of energy will be even greater than today. We have to stop thinking that this is just something for Al Gore to receive his Nobel prize.
High rise buildings are another challenge facing the Maltese architectural landscape.
The KTP’s document asks: “will tall buildings in our local context provide any positive impacts to the built environment and, given that their potential negative impacts are universally well-established, how do we ensure that these are mitigated, and that our tall buildings are of the highest quality design and construction possible?”
Felice makes it clear that the KTP does not oppose the development of tall buildings.
“We certainly need a tall buildings policy. Our discussion unfortunately does not go beyond whether we should go vertical or should we cover more land area by going horizontal. It is not as simple as that. My concern is that we have a draft policy on tall buildings which has not yet been approved. Yet in the absence of an approved policy MEPA is already granting permits for high rise towers. We are not critical of tall buildings, but we are critical of not having a clear policy.”
With both major parties presenting rival grand harbour plans, the long neglected Grand Harbour area is finally at the centre of the national agenda.
While welcoming the fact that politicians are finally taking an interest in the rehabilitation of the Grand Harbour, Felice is wary of politicians stepping in to the shoes of planners.
“Is this the failure of the planning system? We have local plans for the area. Are we saying that the local plans are not good? Have the political parties become the planners of tomorrow?”
According to Felice, the public is now interested to know how the political parties intend to implement their proposals. What the KTP is expecting from politicians is commitment. During last week’s annual general meeting, its members approved a motion calling on the political parties to endorse the Urban Challenge document.
“We are asking the political parties to include the document in their programme and thus making it their own.”