Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit the Rietveld Schroeder House in Utrecht, the Netherlands, a family home built in 1924 and designed by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld for his client Truus Schröder and her three children.
The building perfectly embodies the fundamental purpose of architecture, that of designing spaces to reflect and shape the lifestyle of the end users.
At the Schroeder House, quality of space was achieved through flexibility, an abundance of natural light and an overall sensitivity for the inhabitants’ daily routines and rituals.
As I transitioned from one space to another, I was captivated by Rietveld’s keen eye for detail. The space is furnished with conveniently located bespoke storage compartments, multi-functional foldable joinery elements and purposeful accents of colour.
Back to Malta and my mood was immediately dampened by the dismal state of our urban fabric. Sporadic pencil developments, massive blank party walls and nondescript architecture at best are a constant reminder of a system that does not work; a system that promotes fast-track, one-size-fits-all development void of any architectural quality.
The bulk of what is being built at the moment is thoughtless and soulless ‒ an abundance of flats sandwiched to fit within the maximum allowable development profile. They are almost all identical; long, dull, narrow corridors linking the sleeping spaces at the rear of the property to the conventional open plan living spaces overlooking the street.
There is hardly ever any attempt to challenge the narrative. One can expect a balcony on the façade, regardless of whether the site is on a main arterial road congested by traffic; large glazed apertures, no matter whether facing north or south; no courtyards or additional terraces, because God forbid we prioritise natural light and greenery over built area.
Architects, developers and the Planning Authority are all complicit to some extent in their disregard for quality- Steven Risiott
Poorly insulated, appallingly detailed and often clad in the cheapest and most mundane of finishes, the quality of most contemporary development is uninspiring from beginning to end. The well-being of the end user does not fit anywhere in the equation, because somewhere along the line, architects have forgotten that architecture is fundamentally about designing quality spaces for people rather than for developers looking to capitalise.
It must be said that a community that is conducive to the development of quality architecture is generally one that can also recognise quality in their architectural heritage. If the local sentiment towards preservation of existing architecture of merit can be taken as a measure of this appreciation, then we have a long way to go.
Currently, the craving for quality is definitely not genuine enough to overturn the financial interests attributed to redevelopment.
Architects, developers and the Planning Authority are all complicit to some extent in their disregard for quality.
The inevitable consequence is that as we shape our built environment, our buildings will shape us. What are the implications of the poor quality of our built environment on the future of the Maltese landscape and the local community? Does the future need to be so bleak?
Unfortunately, a lot of irreversible damage has already been done but this does not mean we should give up and give in to the relentless pressures of speculation and overdevelopment. There is still a lot of quality architecture that ought to be safeguarded and there is also a lot that can be done to improve the quality of new developments.
We need to wake up and collectively recognise the positive impact quality spaces have on the physical and mental health of our communities.
We owe this to ourselves. We owe this to future generations.
Steven Risiott is a partner and architect at A Collective.