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H.E. Dr. John Paul Grech, Ambassador of Malta to Federal Republic of Germany with the Lord Mayor of Bernburg Helmut Rieche during the reception by the city of Bernburg before the inauguration of the exhibition.

H.E. Dr. John Paul GrechAmbassador of Malta to Federal Republic of Germany

Welcoming Address at the Inauguration of the Exhibition “Landscape Architectural Conceptual Proposal for Valletta and Floriana”Bernburg, Germany, Thursday, 30 March, 2006

It is indeed an honour to be afforded the opportunity to deliver the welcoming address on the occasion of the opening of the Studio Exhibition ‘Landscape Architectural Proposals for Valletta and Floriana’ here in Bernburg – the pearl of the river Saale – home to the distant Ascanian Princes and Dukes – home to a rich architectural variety reminiscent of the Romanesque, the Gothic and the Classic Renaissance – home to culture at the Carla Maria v. Weber Theatre – home to industry and trade.

It is equally a cause of personal satisfaction - given that for an academic - it remains an unparalleled sensation to be able to enjoy both the climax of the efforts of university students displaying their final studio presentations – the fruit of months of hard work and sleepless nights – but also to behold the unique experience of having thirty-five international graduate architecture students - from 13 different countries and three different continents - North America, Asia and Europe – with their own distinct continental visions of architecture – assembling together in Germany for six months, merge their professional stimuli and forge a fusion of conceptual ideas focussed on revisiting and improving Malta’s capital – Valletta , and its environs – Floriana. All this under the devoted tutelage of Professor Erich Buhmann, Professor Anemone Beck Koh, Professor Dr. Andrea Haase, assisted by the expert advice of Professor Dr. Wolfram Kircher, Professor Lisa Stybor, Matthias Pietsch and Marcel Heins from Anhalt University, together with Professor Dr. Dennis de Lucca from the University of Malta. Truly, I find the multi-faceted complexion of this whole project, fascinating.

I am particularly grateful to all those who had the vision to bring about this dynamic cooperation between the two universities, to fruition and to such excellent results. A word of appreciation, if I may, should go to our able and dynamic Hon. Consul to Saxony-Anhalt, Mr. Detlef Bischoff, for his enthusiasm, generosity and support.

The decision to assume the task to present conceptual proposals for improving the urban and tourist qualities of the baroque city of Valletta and Floriana from architectural and landscape viewpoints, was indeed a challenging, but visibly, a rewarding one. Valletta – built as a celebration of the victory of the Maltese over the Ottoman Turks in the Great Siege of 1565 – is home to some of Malta’s outstanding architectural treasures, most of which being the legacy of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem that built and financed them. Within the massive bastions of the fortified city, stand as resplendent as ever - Auberge de Castille – the Prime Minister’s office; Auberge d’Italie, Auberge d’Aragon, St. John’s Co Cathedral – to name but a few. All are indicative of Malta’s European-wide characteristics. It comes as no surprise that Ernle Bradford in his book : ‘The Great Siege – Malta 1565’ wrote that traveller Patrick Brydone in 1773 described Malta as ‘ the epitome of all Europe’. In that same page, he described the architecture of Malta, and Valletta in particular, as ‘architecture which in many respects is more deserving of attention than that of many better known, and publicized, islands of the Mediterranean.’

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Throughout their 270 years rule, the Order of the Knights of St. John attracted the best artists: Caravaggio, Mattia Preti, Favray, Palladini and many more. The best engineers came to Malta, commissioned by the Knights Valperga, Tigne and Floriani – to whom Floriana owes its name and on whose designs it was erected. They fortified the towns of Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua, Mdina, apart from the new capital, Valletta.

They built a hospital in Valletta known as the Sacra Infirmeria - the Holy Infirmary – offering 600 beds, something quite unusual for the 16th century. It had the longest unsupported hall in Europe and it could take 2000 patients in an emergency. It was built by the sea to bring up the wounded with the minimum of inconvenience. All the patients were given the same high standard, irrespective of race, political standing or religion. The Grandmasters took it in turn to serve the patients themselves. Attached to their hospital was a surgery school and a pharmacy.

You may wonder : Why all the detail with respect to the Order of the Knights. For one simple reason – because you have been privileged to examine in depth, possibly some of Malta’s finest architectural treasures existing within a few square kilometres - Valletta and Floriana. Only the Ggantija, Hagar Qim, Imnajdra, Hypogeum and Tarxien Temples – those other gems of Maltese history and pre-history- can be put in the same league, although reminiscent of historical periods thousands of years before.

Malta - a European country in the Mediterranean - whose strategic location by far outweighs its limitations of size - is today a member of the European Union, with equal rights and obligations. This historic fact is - in a way - a re-enactment of history, particularly when one bears in mind that while the Order of the Knights of St. John recruited soldiers from all over Europe’s nobility to defend Malta from the Ottoman Turks, it also elected Grandmasters from across Europe, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France - the latter providing perhaps the most famous of them all – Jean Parisot de La Vallette – to whom our capital owes its

Valletta in the 17th century reproduced from Joan Blaeu, quoted in Denis De Lucca (2004)

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origin and name. Beyond the Knights, the French and the British ruled Malta for almost 170 years, before independence was achieved in 1964. This string of European rules therefore establishes that Malta’s European credentials go back centuries, before the Knights of Malta and beyond. With EU membership, fittingly crowning its 40th anniversary of independence, Malta’s European identity was brought full circle.

But Malta, like any other country with a rich history, should also look forward towards a future of progress and development, while sustaining the legacy and traditions of the past. Membership in the European Union has put Valletta – as well as the other 9 new member states - into the European spotlight. It has also put Malta’s Mediterranean vocation – that of serving as dual gateway connecting Europe to North Africa and the Middle East - within the focus of Europe’s Neighbourhood policy. All this bring along opportunities, but also risks and challenges. Demographic trends and mobility, besides globalisation, top the agenda.

Development, tourism, industry, a changing skyline, a rising standard of living, improved road networks – all impinge on natural resources in the name of progress. In this respect, traditions risk falling victim to quick economic shifts, unless new impulses stir the all-important awareness of politicians, citizens and visitors alike, to the intrinsic values of the island and its urban and landscape conditions. Only sustainable development can uphold such awareness and provide the necessary assurances. The onus of the challenge lies in reconsidering urban and landscape development through the benefits of revitalisation and renewal.

For the past four years, this challenge has been undertaken by the international graduate programme in landscape architecture of the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences located at the Centre for Technology INDIGO Park in Bernburg. The graduate landscape architecture studio work partly in co-operation with the graduate program in architecture – located at the internationally known Bauhaus campus in Dessau – initially focused on opportunities for green tourism in Gozo – Malta’s sister island. The ideas for landscape architectural developments in Gozo were very well received in Malta, following which, upon the suggestion of my predecessor, focus shifted to the landscape architectural potentials of Valletta.

The studio on Valletta and Floriana respected the earlier work by the famous Renzo Piano author of the technical report: „Rehabilitation of the Historic Centre La Valletta Preliminary Guide Lines“ in January 1989, while current concepts by the planning authorities also served as important guidelines. The objectives of the studio were developed in co-operation with the Mayor of Valletta, Dr. Paul Borg Olivier, Dr. Malcolm Borg for the Ministry of Urban Development and Roads and with Dr. Ray Bondin, chairman of the Valletta and Floriana Rehabilitation Committee. The three members of the external studio committee supported the studio logistics, organised the field trip and the series of lectures by local experts last October, assisted in data procurement and helped tap financial support.

The task for the core of Valletta is to look for spaces needing impulses, concepts and strategies for urban transformation. The current problem remains an emigration of inhabitants from inner areas, accompanied by a decrease of small units of trade, service and handcraft. Such changes need to be transformed into new mixtures of use and new forms of coordinating built form and open spaces on private and public land. The very specific local conditions of the peninsula defined the tasks in particular: the orthogonal street grid opens views from its backbone in higher topography of ‘Triq ir-Repubblika’ down to both the bordering water-sides. Edges of different kinds and locations deserve adequate response from urban, architectural and landscape design for integrating new uses into a much more differentiated distribution of built form and empty spaces. Herewith, architecture and landscape design are strongly pressed to give the right answers to socio-spatial and cultural conditions. Nature and historically valuable heritage have to be afforded equal respect. As the whole urban situation is an urban fabric of highly expressive sculptural elements working together in harmony or in tension, this urban fabric needs to receive answers for the regularity of new ‘infillings’ as well as for very specific architectural and landscape designs.

The proposals put forward by the students include overall concepts, design ideas for the waterfront and the fortification, and for the various open spaces in Valletta. While student work is free from the pressure of budgets and interest groups, all proposals are done in respect of the potentials and limitations of the UNESCO World Heritage status of Valletta.

H.E. Dr. John Paul Grech, Ambassador of Malta to Federal Republic of Germany during his speech on the opening of the exhibition.

The poster exhibition ‘Landscape Architectural Conceptual Proposals for Valletta and Floriana’ from March 30th until April 2nd in Bernburg will be followed by a presentation and exhibition of this studio in early May, 2006 in Valletta, Malta.

It remains our collective hope that some of these excellent conceptual ideas will find acceptance with a view that some of the designs will be carried out in the future.

H.E. Dr. John Paul GrechAmbassador of Malta to Federal Republic of Germany

Student participants of Malta Studio, MLA Program, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences during the exhibition on 30. March 2006. From left: Ren Xuan (China), Falko Geyer (Germany), Dai Liang (China), Lin Shih-yang (Taiwan), Kuo I-chun (Taiwan), Zheng Yuechan (China), Anddys Nathalia Firstanty (Indonesia), Hindun Mulaika (Indonesia), Francois Delvaux (Belgium), Mathilde Menard (France), Joanna Milewska (Poland), Ilka Riemann (Canada), Lee I-hsiang (Taiwan), Yu Jia (China), Huang Wei (China), Lu Ji (China), Fritz Akhmad Nuzir (Indonesia), and Marina Yeghiazaryan (Armenia). Not in the picture: Dogan Önal (Turkey), Feng Xiaolin (China), Sun Ye (China), Dora Alicia Herrera (Mexico), Li Duyuan (China) and Matthias Hensel (Germany) as the photographer of this picture.

Prof. Anemone Beck-Koh (left), Prof. Erich Buhmann (middle) and H.E. Dr. John Paul Grech, Ambassador of Malta to Federal Republic of Germany during the celebration of the exhibition.

Front from right: Prof. Anemone Beck-Koh, Lord Mayor Helmut Rieche, H. E. Dr. John Paul Grech, Vice President of Anhalt University Prof. Dr. Rudolf Lückmann, Jeanne Colgan, Prof. Erich Buhmann, Hon. Consul Detlef Bischoff, and Prof. Dr. Robert Off.Back from right: Mayor Paul Koller, Wolfgang Knopf, and Kirsten Wieduwilt.