Overlooked are the stories that the Maltese townhouse once framed through the gaze of its ‘antiporta’. A vehicle for interaction between the residents of a house and the pavement-walkers, this hung space held many an encounter.

With a simple nod, perhaps a smile, on a Sunday morning through the glass panes of these doors, or beyond a glorious afternoon glow on the floor of the ‘intrata’, these doors allowed for daily performances in the most fleeting of moments.

With the gentle ring of its bell and the low drop for its handle, the antiporta held a number of cues for social encounters. As its involvement in our architecture fades, with it so do the behaviours it implied and the social interactions it allowed.

This is at the heart of a research project being conducted by six local creatives, commissioned by Chris Briffa Architects for Time Space Existence, an exhibition that was part of this year’s Architecture Biennale in Venice, and which was the topic of the discussion last week at its closing event at Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta.

An installation carrying sentiments and anecdotes about this architectural feature had been presented in Venice for six months earlier this year. This, after a period of conversation between team members about what it was that resonated most about the antiporta.

Their investigation among locals was invested in the exposure of different nostalgic attachments people had to their experience of the antiporta over time. It simultaneously included a call for locals to contribute to a compendium of images of antiporti which contributors would come across.

This ongoing effort is an attempt at curating a collection of these eroding enclosures, to sum up the varying ways this same hung space has been interpreted. Uploads include the original wooden antiporti; more recent aluminium alternatives; ones with clear glass panes; others with coloured glazing; some that are more translucent; and others that hide the inside with bizzilla (lace) behind their shiny surfaces.

An attempt at curating a collection of these eroding enclosures, to sum up the varying ways this same hung space has been interpreted

The Instagram account @antiporta_cba collects the many faces of this architectural feature and ways it is being presented contemporarily. This effort to collect imagery is ongoing and the public is invited to send in contributions using the hashtag #antiporta on instagram.

The project has now been set up at Spazju Kreattiv. This second installation serves to bring the exported experience of the antiporta back to our shores to rekindle the conversation that was started at Palazzo Mora earlier last year.

In many respects, the project is a microcosm of a greater desire the team has for local architecture practice to preserve more, to incubate a greater sense of respect and to progress with greater sensitivity; to embrace development and attempt the future without compromising too much of what we’ve inherited, or of what we belong to.

This is about an architectural discourse motivated by the state of things around us: What has happened to the antiporta? What does this transition say about who we are today? Where is our architecture heading?

The event which took place last Thursday at Spazju Kreattiv consisted of a short, informal conversation about the findings of the research and the process of the six-month project among the members of the Antiporta team and other contributors.

Led by Perit Chris Briffa, the team brings together Andrew Borg Wirth as curator, photographer and artist David Zammit, curator and researcher Lisa Gwen, Louise Spokes as project manager and architect Katrina Galea. Antiporta is part of the Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture Cultural Programme (Valletta Design Cluster), and the Spazju Kreattiv programme. The project is supported by the Project Support Grant, Malta Arts Fund – Arts Council Malta.