Unveiling plans for a new garden in Valletta, architect Sandro Valentino speaks to Peter Farrugia on the exciting new project and the creative risks involved.
Renzo Piano’s vision for Valletta, love it or hate it, has inspired a series of projects aimed at regenerating the capital, one area at a time. Building on the idea that strategic nodes of activity will help channel the city’s flow of visitors, award-winning architect Chris Briffa and his team have been commissioned by the local council of Valletta to rehabilitate San Salvatore bastions’ 2,000-square metre Peacock Garden.
Rising above the water polo pitch and regatta club, the garden is presently little more than a public thoroughfare, festooned with litter. The new design will see the space transformed into “a garden on stilts”, an innovative addition to the city periphery.
Architect Sandro Valentino discusses the possibilities.
“The idea of the garden is entirely site specific, intended to frame the view panoramically. We’ve been commissioned to upgrade the area,” says Valentino, “and this is a garden for tourists and locals alike”.
At present, there is no way for tourists to get from the ferry to the street, except by a dangerous staircase. Taking into account this lack of accessibility, the new garden will be disability-friendly .
Eventually, the garden could serve as a second entrance into the capital, the first sight of Valletta seen by tourists across the water.
Created in two levels, one nestled atop the other, the space is set to include a Valletta information centre and an interactive map of the city that will help orient visitors.
The heart of the garden features a small amphitheatre, a flexible space for all sorts of outdoor activities, even an outdoor cinema, says Valentino.
Taking into account the proposed repurposing of another location close by, the architects have incorporated a play area into the garden design.
“And an overhanging canopy and trellis will feature creepers and greenery, visually unobtrusive and very green.
It is a welcome respite from Valletta’s various shades of sun-bleached stone.
Interestingly, the site’s existing trees have been holistically incorporated into the new design concept.
“Since the beginning of the 20th century this was already a garden surrounded by trees,” says Valentino, and yet these trees have presented an unlikely bone of contention with the Malta and Environment Planning Authority and its affiliates. “Basically, they see the site without the trees; we see the trees as being an integral part of the site.”
It could be argued that a baroque city like Valletta was never intended to feature garden groves enclosed within bastions, but things change. The Superintendent of Cultural Heritage may have had that in mind when he reported that the design “negates the historic function of the site”. Yet the trees have their own important value that must be recognised. Like the city, theirs is a living historical value. The city is a live space, not a museum.
They provide vital shade during the summer and shelter when winter rains get heavy. The lack of trees or suitable cover in St George’s Square illustrates the problem.
Mepa interpreted the proposal as including “too many uses” and suggested that “too many functions were crammed in”.
However, the architects defend the garden’s viability and effectively low-impact design.
“We understand it’s an extremely sensitive site on top of an old bastion and can be seen across the harbour, and the steel structure that will uphold the garden’s raised belvedere can be removed at any time.” Like the trees, these stilts can be “uprooted” if necessary.
It was this belvedere section, rising over the line of the bastions that Mepa also highlighted as problematic. What effect might this have on the bastion skyline when seen from across the harbour?
The answers to this are apparent in the project sketches, where the green oasis is seen to enhance (rather than deform) the simple elegance of the bastion line.
A worrying concern raised by the mayor of Valletta was that vandalism is a real problem in the area.
While the garden can be completely closed at night, and an ornamental pond will provide a sense of distance from the street, Valentino was quick to explain that vandalism only festers in locations deprived of real investment.
“Things start to change when life is brought to these places and this project could be an impetus for change.”
With a Mepa hearing scheduled for March 15 and an application for EU funding in the works, only time will tell whether the garden will receive its reinvention.
“We don’t see it as a project in isolation,” says Valentino. Indeed, developing select areas around Valletta with the aim of facilitating movement and encouraging visitors is a top priority.
“More can always be done,” concludes Valentino and hopefully, Valletta’s journey towards regeneration will include a green space the city can be proud of.