The application for a huge development in Pietà is forcing renowned Italian director Marco Pagot to rethink his plan to turn an elegant scheduled house into a ‘meeting point for artists’
A Milanese director’s “dream” to rehabilitate a scheduled historical home in Malta is being dashed as he faces the unexpected development of a massive block of flats behind his Guardamangia villa.
A Planning Authority application to build 114 apartments in St Monika Street on the site of two modernist houses and part of a garden has shaken the foundations of Marco Pagot’s hefty investment to buy, restore and transform Casa Gwardamangia into a “meeting point for artists”, having immediately and instinctively perceived the potential of this old house.
“I do not exclude the possibility of abandoning the project after two years of research,” said a disillusioned Mr Pagot, a renowned director, screenwriter and creator of TV programmes, who has worked around the world, producing series and books. “Maybe, if necessary, I could apply these to another project in another place,” he conceded
“I did not choose to live in Pietà to find myself swamped by a block of seven floors. This project in St Monika Street, in the style of the notorious Vele di Scampia in Naples, will completely change not only the garden and my project, but the entire area,” he said.
When he got wind of the application, simulations of the development in question were created in the context of the villa, and the proposed seven floors will tower over the house and garden, meaning “there is no doubt that my project will lose all its potential value”.
Mr Pagot thinks “Malta should reconcile its economic interests with respect for its origins, its history and the image it has in the world. I understand the economic aspects of speculation, but I believe that man should rediscover respect for others and try to make his own interests coincide with a wider well-being. Of course, I am not only talking about respect towards Casa Gwardamagia and myself; I’m speaking about the entire community of Pietà and Malta.
“The island attracts visitors due to its history and certainly not for new developments, which, in most cases, have no architectural value. If its beauty were to be suffocated by these mediocre structures, foreign investors would probably turn to other destinations.”
When Mr Pagot had to rebuild the simple dividing wall between Casa Gwardamangia and the neighbouring garden, he said he abided by precise limitations, maintaining a height that would not exceed that of the church parvis.
“I accepted these conditions, of course, seeing this as proof of how much Pietà was attentive to the protection of aspects of Maltese history.”
The proposed development also brings with it parking problems – one of the gravest issues Mr Pagot has encountered in Malta, with Pietà being certainly no exception.
Read: Pietà council shoots down massive development project
“The very limited number of car spaces the development would provide shows the lack of attention to the complications this would cause.
“In Tokyo, where I lived for six years, every apartment had to provide at least two parking spaces. In this case, there will be a shortage of around 100 to 150. Who will take care of this?”
The island attracts visitors due to its history and certainly not for new developments
Mr Pagot’s architect, Joanna Spiteri Staines, a partner at Openworkstudio, who specialises in the restoration of old buildings, described the “under siege scheduled” garden as “exotic” and “full of beautiful trees”, the former owner being an expert at growing avocado.
At most, she said, the property could have been more modestly developed, surrounding the garden, rather than including an “outrageous” seven floors.
An application has been submitted to the Planning Authority to build 114 apartments in St Monika Street, Pietà.In the space of a week, apart from the news about Casa Gwardamangia, she also received a call from the owner of an “out of this world”, pre-Great Siege, Grade 1 scheduled building in Tarxien, which is also at risk; and was contacted by another disillusioned person to value a villa that is now being overlooked by yet another development.
An application to build a “non-descript” block of flats across the road from the Tarxien house would ruin the streetscape, Ms Spiteri Staines said, adding that doing this in a relatively unspoilt street was setting a dangerous precedent, which would have a domino effect.
“After all, it is the context that matters,” she said, giving as an example of plonking Michelangelo’s David in front of a block of flats instead of in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria. “The beauty and importance of the statue would be lost. And if we cannot appreciate the beauty of David in its context, that makes us a bunch of savages.”
The property, which has been in the family for three centuries, should have a buffer zone in front of the house too and not just behind, she insisted. The owner, she said, had been fighting in court to have the surrounding area properly protected.
“In the Guardamangia case, we are talking about a 300-year-old house that is being devalued,” continued Ms Spiteri Staines, who also does pro bono work for Din l-Art Ħelwa to help save Malta’s heritage and environment.
If there is no buffer zone between urban conservation areas and new build and mass development, people’s homes are being devalued at the stroke of a pen with these applications, and this after they would have spent a fortune on restoration and rehabilitation, Ms Spiteri Staines stressed.
“Moreover, the body in place to protect their value and our heritage should be fighting for protection of our heritage, streetscapes and controlling urban development to respect the context rather than enabling these applications to go through.”
The situation is devastating and Ms Spiteri Staines said it is down to “those who would sell their mother to make a quick buck, and those whose attitude is: ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’, claiming that if others did it, why should they have their garden permanently in the shade of a block of flats. You can’t really blame the latter either,” she admits.
“We need to see more buffer zones and more buildings being scheduled. The policies and development guidelines of the Planning Authority talk ad nauseam about respecting the context, but this is totally overlooked by the decision-making boards,” she said, adding that the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage is still understaffed, but trying its utmost to reverse this negative trend.
A good example of the protection of a buffer zone and the community’s fight against the ruin of the context of a monument was the area surrounding the Gourgon Tower in Lija in 2008, she said.
Ms Spiteri Staines is calling for a master plan for Guaradmangia that would give deserved value to all the historical buildings in the area.
“We should have a vision for this area, which is totally undervalued and horrendously exploited by overdevelopment, when in truth, it has so much potential,” she said, adding that the buildings on Pietà’s waterfront are as old as the Pinto Stores and the whole area could be another Valletta Waterfront, with the road pushed out into the sea, or passing through a tunnel.
Referring to the Public Domain Act, a relatively new, but as yet unused, tool for the State to buy sights of cultural, historical and social importance for the country, Ms Spiteri Staines encouraged it to buy Villa Guardamangia, further up the road, and turn it into a British museum.
Once the Queen’s residence and now on the market, she said Villa Guardamangia should be the first attempt to give due importance to the 150 years of British rule in Malta, celebrating, discussing and shedding light on this era.
“It is a tidal wave of development and destruction and we are not even seeing it,” Ms Spiteri Staines said. “But with vision, we can control development, rather than let development lead the way, leaving us with the only option to be reactive.”
The ancient Greeks used to say that a society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. In Malta, we seem to have turned this concept on its head.
“It is hard to abandon a dream, but, undoubtedly, if the Santa Monika project is approved, I would no longer have a reason to make Casa Gwardamangia my main home,” Mr Pagot admitted.
The vision for a historical home
After hearing stories of Malta’s charm, in 2016 Marco Pagot travelled to the island to search for a home in which to “create and dream”.
“I immediately saw in Malta the possibility to have a home where I could work with other artists on the creation of new projects. I was looking for a quiet corner, a bit cut off from the real world, and when I set eyes on Casa Gwardamangia, I immediately understood that it could fit the bill,” he recalls.
Despite being abandoned for over 40 years, the house’s structure and its wild garden were of unique design and proportions, he found. He began to write a screenplay with Casa Gwardamangia as the protagonist – and to think of a future with ‘her’.
Once he bought the property, the project kicked off. The idea was to create a guesthouse for artists to unite in a serene and enchanting environment, with events designed for them to present and share their works.
Driven by the idea to preserve the image of old Malta, the plan was that any new build would be as minimally invasive as possible, hidden under the garden, or replicating the style of the island at the time of construction of the house.
This is how the respectful relationship with heritage and historical buildings should be – almost human. But it all may collapse under the long arm of the laws of the jungle.