Healing the wound

Visible from various parts of Malta, "Mount Maghtab" is a deep wound in the landscape, a man-made monument to our disregard to the environment and to the volume of waste generated over the years by our everyday activities.

This may, however, no longer be the scene that greets our eyes. At the end of July 2006, the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment launched an international landscape design competition for a long-term rehabilitation master plan of the 59-hectare waste management complex at Maghtab. Eight proposals have been submitted, two by Maltese practices, two by British practices and one each from Denmark, Germany, Holland and Italy.

The resulting park is intended to represent a benchmark of restoration, rehabilitation and sustainable design in Malta. The proposals take into account the criteria set out in the brief for this project: To provide a landmark, a destination, a recognisable site of national significance. The healing process of the site is also one of the main criteria, and the participants responded to this by proposing projects that reflect sensitivity to this renewal through gradual and planned regeneration.

The submissions are multi-faceted, with the site being split into a number of areas and with different proposals for the various parts. These include, among others, open air areas for sports, recreation, picnics and theatrical representations, cafes and restaurants, observation points and viewing towers, gardens and orchards for the growing of vegetables, herbs, fruits and trees, as well as bird-watching spots, visitor and information centres, theme parks and meandering walking trails.

The participants were also specific in their emphasis on the sustainability aspects of their projects, with the use of recycled materials, eco-constructions, energy-saving aspects and energy-generation proposals.

The design philosophies also vary. One project splits the site in two, with the waste disposal site itself being likened to the heart, and the immediate surroundings as the lungs, and proposes various didactic spaces including a meteorological centre.

Another proposal focuses on the fact that the site is a man-made landscape and proposes establishing a woodland on Maghtab, using expressive man-made forms, creating a lace-like patterning visible from various parts of the island.

A fly-and-surf park is the fulcrum of another project, which also proposes a phased natural rehabilitation programme with the aim of turning the site into a recreational park.

The symbolic theme of healing is central to another submission, both in terms of environmental restoration through the planting of endemic species and social healing through the creation of a meditation centre.

Yet another proposal uses refuse extensively to define the various areas within the project, with a gallery of reclaimed waste leading visitors through this artificial landfill which, through processes of healing, recycling and transformation, will become a public park.

Another project is conceived as a dialogue between nature and culture, and proposes a rethinking, reworking and rebirth approach that will convert Maghtab into a holistic public park with meaningful experiences of tranquillity and serenity.

An information pathway integrates educational elements as well as awareness towards the environment by leading the visitor through the history of the waste pile in one other proposal that focuses on the technological healing of the site. A different approach celebrates the qualities of scale, vantage and prospect of the site, working with its native ingredients to provide a park incorporating themed towers and land art to create a space dedicated to the community and to nature.

All submissions are being exhibited at St James Cavalier, Valletta, until Sunday. They will then be displayed at the Naxxar local council from February 13-17.