Media Articles

21 Aug 2019

How to replace two protected houses with a nine-storey block, by Alex Torpiano

This is the story of two late 19th/early 20thcentury, Grade 2 scheduled, houses located within the St.Julian’s Urban Conservation Area, and abutting a “safeguarded area of natural coastline”, (North Harbours Local Plan policy, NHCV03). As Preface, in 2014, the redevelopment of the interior of the smaller house, is proposed behind the retained ca. 5.2m façade. The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage...

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13 May 2019

Interview with Din l-Art Helwa president Alex Torpiano

In his first interview since his appointment as Din l-Art Ħelwa president, Prof. Alex Torpiano points his finger squarely at the Planning Authority and at politicians as the biggest culprits of the mess the country is in. Interview in the Sunday Times of Malta by Fiona Galea Debono on 28 April 2019 Malta’s heritage and environment are in an abysmal state and architects...

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28 Jun 2018

Demand for holistic urban sustainable development and green transport projects

We are a group of environmental NGOs, voluntary organisations and active citizens who wish to voice our concerns in unison and feel the urgent need to put forward an alternative vision to the way urban development and transport projects are being planned and executed. We believe piecemeal projects such as the Kappara Junction, Marsa Junction, and the Central Link Project,...

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03 Jun 2018

Mixed Views on Maltese Heritage, by Petra Caruana Dingli

The temperature is rising at the Planning Authority. This week activists protested against the government policy to allow what appears to be an endless stream of new, large petrol stations in the countryside. This policy was introduced in 2015 and its disastrous consequences are now becoming tangible. The public objected loudly at a planning board meeting, calling on the authority...

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01 Jul 2017

A nightmare in Swieqi, by Maria Grazia Cassar

It takes 20 minutes for a whole street of law-abiding citizens to have their lives turned upside down, and the same amount of time for an iconic viewof a major landmark to be stolen from the public gaze forever. This is what happens when an eight-storey hotel is given the green light in a ‘residential buffer zone’. This is what happens when...

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