Wow. Totally blown away by this building. The context again plays a huge part in why I really respected the thought put into the design.
Malta is a beautiful country, one where limited resources and perhaps for cultural reasons, buildings are all constructed from the same sandstone material. The uniformity gives the cities a cohesive beauty.
The city gate, and the building I would call “city hall” though its not officially listed anywhere as such, takes into consideration the context and takes what is a very traditional, local medium and designs something modern.
The texture on this building is incredible. The uniformity of the cuts of stone give the building a graphic nature, and yet on closer approach, they have are three dimensional and give a send of depth that is truly unique.
There are many approaches to the building- its nested in between various stair cases and even building into an underground, which I found very surprising.
I desperately wished to get inside the building and to better understand why the bridging between the 2 buildings, forming one, but as a state building the whole courtyard (which would typically be accessible) was gated off.
This is easily one of the most amazing pieces of architecture. Malta has done such an excellent job of preserving its own architectural history and Renzo Piano has done what I would consider the best possible job of taking the old and merging it with the new.
Website: Architecture Daily Write up
Address: Valletta city center
ofallthespaces 