12 IN EVERY ISSUE 4 Editorial 5 KTP News 6 People & Projects 8 Letters 9 Current PRACTICE 10 EU Desk 11 SACES 12 Magħtab 15 Landscape Seminar 16 Urban Spaces FEATURE 19 Interview 20 Peter Lorenz 21 T4A3/AN07 22 EC8 CURRENT 24 Heritage 25 Reviews 26 International Events 24 16 25 “We need to put a stop to those who are resorting to the law to delay matters.” Minister George Pullicino People & Projects, page 6 contents SEPTEMBER 2007 3 20 THE PROFESSIONAL CENTRE SLIEMA ROAD GZIRA GZR 06 - MALTA TEL./FAX. (+356) 2131 4265 EMAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: www.ktpmalta.com Recent decades have seen a dramatic change in the Maltese ment has every right to directly appoint professionals of its own environment. In the post-war period, the built-up area of the choice, the awarding of contracts for architectural services must To support members of the profession in achieving excellence in their Maltese Islands has grown more than four-fold. The rapidity of focus on the quality of the service being provided. The use of practice of architecture and engineering in the interest of the community these changes has been such that their effects are still being design competitions is one of the best means to provide for The Council of the Kamra Tal-Periti for the year assimilated, culturally, socially, environmentally and economi- quality, demonstrating the skills of the profession and empha- 2007 consists of David Felice (President), David cally. As pressures on land and open space remain high, the sising on quality based awarding criteria. Competitions could Pace (Past - President) and Council members built (and unbuilt) environment has become one of the princi- also be employed for the creation of the briefs for such projects, editorial Keith Cole, Anthony Fenech Vella, Alberto Miceli pal topics of public debate, concern and negotiation. and could be open or offered to a selected list of participants. Farrugia, Danica Mifsud, Antoine Zammit, Damian The environment within which we carry on with our daily lives There is no doubt that such an approach would benefit these Vella Lenicker, Vincent Cassar, Malcolm Sullivan, Ruben Sciortino and Philip Grech. includes the natural landscape, the built environment and projects immensely, with a proliferation of ideas and design urban spaces which have been specifically designed to provide philosophies being proposed and exposed to the public for The Architect is the official journal of the Kamra planned landscapes within built up areas. The well being of a discussion. Tal-Periti. It is published on a quarterly basis and nation, and thus the social structure of a society, depend to a Following on from this debate of the need for quality in the distributed with the Business Today newspaper. high degree on a well-designed environment that is pleasant built environment one cannot but question the recent amend- The Architect is not to be sold separately. to live in. In recent years the number of projects initiated by ments to the Development Notification Order regulations The contents of this journal are copyright. government and, to a lesser extent, by private individuals to whereby it is now possible for the installation of certain street Reproduction in part or in full is forbidden with- provide such environments has increased noticeably. This issue furniture to take place without the need to even inform the out the permission of the editor. The opinions of “the Architect” takes a look at some such projects that are MEPA of such additions to the urban fabric. Waste receptacles, expressed by writers of signed articles and letters currently in the pipeline, and that augur well for the betterment lamp posts, public benches, bollards, barriers and similar items appearing in the magazine are those of their respective authors, and neither the Kamra Tal- of our urban, and not so urban, spaces. can be erected, subject to certain condition, without so much Periti nor Newsworks Ltd is responsible for these While all these projects are well worthy of praise, the overall as a by-your-leave. No consideration is therefore given to the opinions or statements. general impression is that the approach to these proposals is design of such items, or their suitability within the context somewhat piecemeal, with contained projects being proposed within which they are placed. for specific pockets of land. One may well ask whether there An integrated, all encompassing and all inclusive approach Editor: Simone Vella Lenicker is an overall strategy for all this, or whether these projects are is needed if we are to see a true rehabilitation of our urban Design: Zvezdan Reljic a result of whim. The same may be said, for example, for the spaces. Sales executive: Joseph Zammit recent proposal by government of no less than twenty projects for the Grand Harbour area ranging from a cruise liner terminal Published by: in Senglea to a hotel on the site of the Sir Paul Boffa hospital This issue of “the Architect” should reach your coffee table in to the closing down of the Marsa power station. While each time for you to read about the exciting activities being organ- proposed project may be discussed on its own merits, and be ised in the coming months by the Kamra tal-Periti. Time for found to be a valid one, one must question whether the totality Architecture is back with its third edition, and the Architecture Vjal ir-Rihan of the proposal has been studied in depth. What will the effect Nights series are still ongoing. Surely one of the more interest- San Gwann SGN 02 of these projects be on the transport networks within the Grand ing events will be the exhibition of works by local Architects Malta Tel: +356 21 382 741 Harbour region and on the already existing parking problem and Civil Engineers that will be showing at the Auberge d’Italie Fax: +356 21 385 075 in the area? How will they affect the social fabric within which in Valletta. It promises to be a true breath of fresh air, demon- Email: [email protected] they will be introduced? Has MEPA been involved in the studies, strating that the building profession is not just the picture of and do the proposals fit within the approved Local Plan policies gloom, inconvenience and disrespect for the environment it Printed at: Union Print for the area? Will any of the proposed projects be subject to an is often painted to be, but that there is a lot of good design EIA? These are but some of the questions that come to mind going on; design which is certainly worthy of note and which when taking a step back and looking away from the individual can provide a good basis for discussion on the way forward for projects to the overall scenario. architecture in Malta. Another point of note is the virtually inexistent recourse to design competitions for such projects, with the notable excep- Simone Vella Lenicker tion of the Magħtab project featured in this issue. While govern- Editor Cover: Winning proposal for editorial4 Magħtab SEPTEMBER design competition 2007xx QUALIFICATIONS DIRECTIVE related disciplines in members who wish to be enlisted in the KTP directory are The KTP Council’s concern about the Europe-wide rec- the respective regions. to email their details to [email protected]. Members ognition of the Bachelor degree in Architecture and Civil This is done by means are also encouraged to set up the site as their homepage. Engineering conferred by the University of Malta, due to of activities such as the lack of notification of the course as required following exhibitions, events, MEMORIES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN Malta’s accession to the EU, led it to write a letter to the guided tours, discus- BASIN Rector of the University of Malta. This letter was copied to sions and lectures. The The UMAR member countries launched an exhibi- the Prime Minister, Minister Ninu Zammit, Minister Louis KTP delegation also tion together on the 14 of July to commemorate the Galea and Dean Joseph Falzon. As a result, a meeting was visited AIR, AORTA and organisation’s birthday. Titled “Khans, Foundouks and KTP News called in order to review the course description, which ARCAM, which are the regional architecture centres for Caravenserails”, this exhibition looked at examples of the was then forwarded to the relevant authorities in Brussels Rotterdam, Utrecht and Amsterdam respectively. particular building typologies found in these forms on the for notification. Other member states can challenge the The Kamra is actively working on setting up such a caravan routes. These can also be compared to other typol- course content, and should this be the case such challenge centre in Malta. It tendered for the lease of a government- ogies, although in different forms and with different func- will be discussed at the next meeting of the Advisory owned property in Valletta, but was outbid by a couple of tional priorities through- Committee on Education and Training in Architecture hundred Liri. In the coming months, the Council will be out the Mediterranean (ACETA). Should the course content go unchallenged, or working on drafting an organisational setup and will start basin. As a member of should any challenges be unsuccessful, students following to hold discussions with government and other entities to UMAR, the Kamra tal- the course at the University of Malta can rest assured that establish possible routes of collaboration. Periti also participated in their qualifications will be acknowledged throughout the this event. Due to its lim- European Union. MID YEAR STATUS ited financial resources, In addition to the regular fortnightly meetings, the KTP a full-blown exhibition ACE ELECTIONS Council held an extra meeting on the 20 July.