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The process started with the identification of tensions that would in turn help generate our design process. The contrasts that were observed between activity (a) during the day and and night, (b) those which are free and which you have to pay for, and (c) those which use different vehicular and pedestrian access paths, were observed as points that offer potential. The tension created between the extremities manifests itself as activity in-between spaces.
We perceived that it would be impossible to talk of a Paceville that does not acknowledge the temporal and the adaptive. A masterplan for this site needs to embrace change rather than talk of developments that are focused on creating a new status quo. Our focus immediately shifted into the behaviours of the people negotiating the space understanding just how adaptable it needs to be.
“Some will sketch lines, others will plot tensions, some will assign functions to others, and all of these things will be considered drawing.� Anthony Graves, Function for the Functionless
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This proposed Paceville is aimed to nurture tensions as producers of space in which all aspects of life are unbounded and continuous. Here, reference is being made to the neoprimitives, described by Anthony Graves in 2015 or Function for the Functionless, where he spoke of a reality where
For the purposes of this new Paceville we now understood that in essence we are looking at a new generation of ownership, one where space is conquered for allotted periods of time. It therefore progressed as a timescale upon which all the peninsula will be drawn up and conceived. In this Paceville, some will live and others will occupy.
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The image is taken from a project called PLACE, which was an experiment carried out on a reddit forum, where users were presented with a blank canvas and only allowed to manipulate one pixel every ten minutes. Collaboration was essential to successfully co-ordinate the art produced - and with collaboration, came politics, dispute and most importantly - activity.
Paceville started to become a reciprocal system of moveable and unmoveable parts, that will generate a tension ‘in-between’. The generation of Paceville is seen as a versatile process where “some buildings will be all partition, some will be rooted and others on wheels” where
“people will work where they live and live where they work. At night there will be areas designated for cruising, and times allotted for children, lectures, and walking unleashed animals.”
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This movement will be informed and will further inform the tensions that we are perceiving for Paceville. This is a reality we already observed, but seek to augment further.
The architecture and program therefore developed simultaneously as a system of hardware and software informed by each other, within the constantly mutating body that is Paceville. The hardware will be the basis that the system will continue to operate through across multiple periods of time. The software will project the particular function, identity and time, activated by the hardware.
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The intention is to generate an efficient middle ground, that understands how neither top-down or bottom-up approaches can adapt as fast as the change in Paceville.
dragonara la vallette direction: st george’s bay
westin arch
westin quarry direction: pjazza direction: portomaso
It is our understanding that Paceville presents a reality where circulatory nodes are the generators of activity. In entertaining this reality, this new architecture will enable the integration of the experience of Paceville. This will in turn activate sufficient density for both economic and social ventures to flourish.
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Our conversation with Matthew Bezzina from eCabs helped us with this realisation. He identified issues he has encountered in his business, the potentials that he exploited for it to be created, and the visions he has for the future of his brand. This, within a Malta that has been reluctant to question its vehicular habits and yet which has changed so much on all other fronts. He spoke about varying contexts and the need for a required culture change to harmonize the process.
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The starting point was the tokens of memory and identity which we discussed with Perit Richard England whose work at La Valette became our site. Within the Paceville Development Framework this site was host to a major proposal that featured quite prominently in the marketing of this endeavour. This was further discussed with Prof. England who acknowledged the massive potential we were working with. To this end, it was a challenge of ours to understand the potential of this prime site, and understand how it could be treated with greater sensitivity. The economic strategy alongside the cultural considerations observed, were what led our rationale to understand how unique this land is and what capacity it presented us with. The notions of nostalgia and memory were spoken about in relation to both retention and removal of a site like this and the implications of both were compared.
The conservation of certain values through our interventions was aimed at a holistic experience of the whole zone. The approach was to offer parameters of ambiguity to allow for the healthy evolution of the whole area. The plan is being tackled considering Paceville in its current state, however acknowledging the indisputable ‘growth’ in the area, as well as the far greater traffic inflow it is going to have to cope with. Irrelevant of whether the specific projects manifest themselves, the network is going to have a far greater pedestrian and vehicular load to deal with. Our intention is to offer a flexible circulatory network which will allow activity to emerge - in this way the untapped potential of this node is being understood. The Paceville we are speaking of is one where this dependence on circulation is a guiding principle not just a transitory narrative at the background of another story. We drew parallels with archigram’s manifesto which called for a system similar to what we are proposing. Our proposal however is for a more blurred interface between what is considered circulation and destination. To this end, we imagined a reality where now the car can infiltrate the building fabric vertically at every level, rather than just horizontally.
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This, effectively resulting in a system offering more potential for collision, through the extrapolation of the street from the ground plane - up, and down.
Rem Koolhaas, Airport 2000
At this point we were led to understand what we meant by the ‘temporary’ and the ‘permanent’ in our discourse. When making reference to different elements it became evident that this was a platform of timescapes, where Paceville featured objects that are more temporary or less temporary than others but in reality all was really relatively temporary. This led to a mindset that was an investigation of the temperance of a program and ways in which an architecture can be adaptive to such volatility.
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“It is a paradox of our time that the most crucial enterprises are the ones subject to the greatest fluctuations, uncertainties and contestations. ”
The values that guided this process have remain unchanged from the start, and have helped the accentuate the potentials that our realisation has:
Change is the only constant in Paceville the tension between the sacred and the profane was one of ten main tensions perceived
Paceville has always offered ‘an escape’ Paceville caters for a spectrum of users The evolution of Paceville needs to be economy-led
In our individual materialisations as well as in the public space and transport organ of the area, these values have remained tangible. The arteries that link pedestrian and vehicular users are clear and defined, but their boundaries allow the simultaneous transit of both. The functions of selected tests will further augment the mix that is perceived for the greater Paceville context. This is not a project focused solely for this zone but rather an ideology that we hope to see adopted across the peninsula.
The tension in the in-between spaces that has given Paceville its character
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The fifth value is the most prominent value that has carried through in our project, in that it offers a tangible currency for the development of the project.
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So the program is one that will adapt to the economies of a particular point in time. A market that is on its way out can lead a particular architecture to manifest and evolve into something else. When the economic activity calls for a new player to rethink the wheel, the architecture will react immediately to such a realisation. This will facilitate the change which has kept Paceville relevant over time. With this as our driving force, our individual projects will aim to illustrate an architecture which evolves gradually through minor interventions in a phased nature to constantly update the proposed infrastructure in response to an ever changing context. This directly contradicts the notion of a clean sweep - instead, building a framework which avoids a vacuum in the interim. A system which is economically resilient, where each phase of development can be both economically and culturally selfsufficient.
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the testing ground
road diversions
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For works to commence, it is essential that minimal disruptions be imposed on the functioning of the town’s streets. Rerouting would be limited to lower parts of Triq il-Wilĥa and the stretch of Triq il-Knisja from the Golden Tulip Vivaldi to the Westin Dragonara entrance.
logistical centre
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A corner of the Westin quarry has been identified as a suitable starting point for infrastructural interventions. The site will serve as the location for the construction of a logistics office which will coordinate material flow, construction waste, and operational workings of all future interventions.
crane network
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It is being proposed that a system of two complementing tower cranes be introduced, one within the Westin site and another in the La Vallette site. The latter would be assembled after repurposing of the existing Sky Club structure. This approach aims to make efficient use of space during all phases of intervention, keeping ‘dead’ space to a minimum.
tunnel beneath the road
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The tunnel linking the St George’s Bay area to the Westin quarry will be constructed next. This will facilitate traffic within Paceville as well as allow for efficient inflow and eventual disposal of construction materials.
facade activation
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Following this tunnel intervention, a pedestrian piazza has been created where the road used to be. This calls for activation of the facades enclosing this piazza, introducing an arcade typology to the area, giving new conceptions of inside and outside while allowing for degrees of permeability between private and public. These notions will be replicated throughout each intervention, each phase responding to an evolving economic and architectural context.
superstructure & vertical circulation As this activation of space ascends through the existing building it may require interventions which are additive, progressively giving rise to a symbiotic relationship between existing structure and superstructure. These additions will primarily need to facilitate vertical circulation, both pedestrian and vehicular. So, as activation ascends, modular cores will be constructed around the crane adjacent to the La Vallette resort. These cores are fundamental to the execution of eventual interventions and repurposing attempts as they will serve as spines out of which all construction and circulation will stem. This elemental approach allows for easy scalability of the structures. The progressive activation scheme we envisaged would allow for a legible growth of activity, in turn enabling an organic emergence of identity, whereby new interventions will be read in relation to previous adjacent developments. Relationships between the elements constituting the ‘organism’ will give rise to a new building typology within Paceville, a dense mixed use structure. Here we reached a point where we wanted to continue by testing this overall phasing individually. Needless to say, we continued to work in tandem, however our projects are distinct since jean andrew and myself studied matters relating to adaptability of program - the software which would inform the infrastructure. Isaac tackled a more infrastructural issue dealing with construction logistics. Mike studied the interface between the two - isaac’s hardware, versus our software.
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As you can imagine there is going to be considerable overlap between our projects - this is something we strived for. The holistic picture will be clearest once we have all presented.
nicky
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This project has identified change as a main characteristic that defines Paceville. However alongside the emergence of these changing realities, we realised the importance for an identity to surface that binds the character of the space. The Paceville we are talking about will play host to a new community keen on finding a context they can relate to. This cultural identity is the intermediary constant between all that is changing. So the timescale I will be talking about deals with the longterm character of what we are proposing.
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Alexander goes on to speak of how ‘a family has couples and groups within it; a factory has teams of workers; a town hall has divisions, departments within large divisions and working groups within these departments.’ He concludes by saying that ‘the more monolithic the building is, the more it prevents people from being personal, and from making human contact with the other people in the building.’
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Whilst Christopher Alexander explained divisions by demographic, our analysis went further to investigate how similarly each group or activity requires different amenities, and how these also have divisions between them.
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This is precisely why the need for a culture of behaviours needs to emerge. Growing into the superstructure and gaining in relevance over time, groups are allowed to conquer giving identity to this place. It is the in-between of these places that have been conquered, that will tell how interlaced this identity will be. The behaviours and occasions that happen at the interface of these places will work to make the larger system, ‘human again’.
This motivation finds solace in the process and in appreciating that which is ongoing. Bernard Tschumi in his ‘Architecture and Disjunction’ compares today’s architectural reality to the historical tendencies it adopted. Effectively what he talks of is the evolution from the pillars of balance, equilibrium and harmony, to a reality where disjunctions, dislocations and deconstructions are the foundations architecture builds on.
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We have today adapted more to an architecture of fragmentation where ‘the abolition of permanence’ is prevalent.
Tschumi’s writings are the undertone of a system that evolves with the occasions that the space will play host to. This is what this project seeks to offer - the platform for such an occasion to take place as a result of collision of contrasting influences.
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An important part of my process was the testing of such a system where interfaces would surface and evolve through the whole lifecycle of a building - from construction, to use, to deconstruction, repurpose and reconstruction.
For the tests I considered a smaller part of the facade of the La Valette building. The approach I will describe is something I perceive spreading across the rest of the building and indeed across all of Paceville through this, its age of regeneration. In all of my testing, there surfaced a need for spaces that are there solely for the construction period, and others that remain and adapt according to the use of the demographic inhabiting the adjacent fabric. (the red and the green platforms) ------My first test sees this platform as an architectural element that is completely dependent on the construction process, evolving only where the next construction is to take place. I studied the relation between (a) retention and (b) reuse of current fabric (hotel room frame); and (c) demolition and (d) reconstruction phases (diagonally hatched).
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The platform would therefore move vertically upwards and downwards joining fabric and shielding from construction work.
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This gave rise to the idea of Morphing Nuclei which will document an activity or behaviour that will inhabit the various construction zones in the development, contributing to the identity of that particular space and of the overall whole too.
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In the second iteration, rather than using one platform, various platforms are generated in a vertical plane according to where there is a requirement for it. In the third iteration the movement of the platform’s generation was not restricted only to a vertical motion, but rather it would move horizontally and vertically according to the need which arises both during the construction phasing and once the use are established and start to evolve.
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The images are mainly schematic but they help to raise an awareness into possible results that such a logic could lead to.
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This exposed the system of Loci of Persistence . These will document the resultant culture of the tension between the groups and activities that conquer a space. In generating distincts platforms that perform so differently, they will contribute to the identity that the experience of walking through this development will feel like. The activity similarly adapts once a user moves out, and another is brought in or when the fabric is in some shape or form set to be altered.
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This system will simultaneously provide the narration of this project’s timeline and will become a bookmark for the system’s evolution. The mechanism will be constructed and then make way for construction. It will simultaneously build, and erase, and will be dependent on the parallel processes alongside which it stands. This will develop a relationship between interfaces, giving rise to morphing nuclei and loci of persistence. Here, residents could become audiences, and residents can welcome audiences and the tension there will be between the activities at different times will foster a new energy that will characterise this space.
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So to perceive this activity as the generator of a culture and identity, and equate it with its nature to move, can be compared to generating a nucleus within this space that is morphing through its lifetime. Here it is a cinematic environment that will be rotating, in other realities a blood donation drive can evolve as much as a tennis court can shape up around the construction zones.
The generation of demographics that will conquer a space will then insinuate the generation of tension between the groups, and this can be distilled into activities that will characterise that space.
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The question is then how long this character will persist for, and the way that this tension will adapt once the demographic packs up and the adjacent buildings take on a new life. The retention of certain elements of this tension but the change that it will be forced into will generate the cultural identity I keep speaking of.
The phenomenology of this insinuation is best understood when the two processes are viewed in parallel. In considering the constant flux that these spaces are in, the generation of a cultural identity will be built on the value this site’s process presents and therefore builds on the identity that we have been trying to conserve from the beginning.
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It will serve to marry the ‘under construction’ and the liveable. This conservation was important because of the wealth that has been inherited and the identity that can be built on. Here the notions of authenticity and ‘Product Malta’ are being tested. This is what Malta, and indeed Paceville can stand for - unique to other progressive cities and without the importation of foreign aesthetics, it is proud of the constant process and a place where moving forward is not simply a preface but a narration that is ongoing. Our analysis during ‘probing the plan’ of certain negligence shown towards tokens of memory and of phasing, as well as the indisputable generation of a new, greater community, are what inspired this process.
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Essentially this is cultural conservation by disjunction and disconnect. The fragmentation is what is bringing Paceville nearer to its whole.
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In contemplating both simultaneously, these spaces and the process of their evolution will be documented and have a story to tell in themselves.
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perception from ground floor
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perception from subterran level
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Logistics of Population
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social activities
infrastructural activities
Paceville, is in constant change and civil and infrastructural works are inevitable. The underlying principle of this project is to integrate such infrastructure with the social spectrum. Instead of ignoring the tension created when infrastructural and civil works impinge on social activities, this study seeks to, understand and intensify this relationship. The objective is to analyse how social and construction activities can mingle, both within the social and infrastructural sphere. Through this realization, the Westin quarry, which currently serves as parking space, lends itself to this experiment. The introduction of a localised construction amenity on this site considerably reduces the movement of heavy vehicles and consequently also the disruption of social activity that takes place within Paceville. Throughout this design process, the aim was to focus primarily on phasing and how a space which caters for the facilitation of construction amenities can also work and be functional even when construction works within Paceville are minimal. In the future, construction within the locality can boom or it may fizzle out. Therefore, the architectural elements of such an unstable activity should cater for change immediately and be sufficiently functional to a whole spectrum of other uses.
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Instead of concealing the tension that the intersection between construction works and social activities produce, this architecture seeks to address it directly.
construction facility construction nodes within PV transport nodes main circulation path
This proposal is situated within a prime site and directly adjacent to the main vehicular ring road. The aim of providing for an infrastructural amenity within such a space is to lighten the burden which civil works create within Paceville. Any interventions that will happen within the heart of Paceville would be feeding off a system close by. This would drastically minimize the congestions that such activities may create.
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In no way does this study deny that there may well be a more appropriate location for such an endeavour. However, for the sake of this experiment, it offers tension to be understood at the interface of construction logistics with such a socially valuable site - further enhanced within a context where change is paramount.
The proposed Construction Facility would be introducing various schemes which may prove to be beneficial to the surrounding areas and their infrastructural needs. Such provisions include: -The renting of allotted spaces sufficient for construction companies to store machinery, equipment, vehicles and materials for a temporary time, reducing the need for transportation within the surrounding roads. -The facility will also deal with the installation, cleaning and design of equipment such as hoarding, skips and mobile toilets - as well as heavy machinery required for construction. -Co-ordinating third party services such as electricity, IT networks, water supply and drainage connections, ensuring that work done in these fields meets an appropriate standard. -The scheduling of construction related traffic within Paceville, allowing for temporal control of the interface with the social realm. -The provision of storage and the reuse of construction waste, providing an aggregate crusher to dealing with disposed construction material to be repurposed within Paceville.
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-The introduction of quay which allows importing and exporting of material by means of sea travel.
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main westin arch
quay
construction facility
existing carpark
logistics office
Phase 1 To achieve this, the construction facility would be introduced within the site gradually, while the existing car park is still in use. The facility prepares for its initial project; that of the excavation/ construction of the ring road tunnel.
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A crane and an aggregate crusher are fixed on site to deal with the excavated stone material, to be partially used for future projects. Till the tunnel is fully operational, the entrance and exit of the facility would be from the secondary westin arch, the one presently used by cars to enter the parking zone. Once the foundations are complete the site will serve as the location for the construction of a logistics office which will coordinate the material flow, construction waste, and operational workings of the tunnel and adjacent interventions. During construction of the tunnel, the space would still serve as a car park within its capacity.
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tunnel entrance & waiting area pjazza
Phase 2
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When the ring road tunnel is complete, the facility can work within its full capacity. The steel beams acting as the structure for the overhanging cranes that allow movement within the site, allowing the space to vary programmatically. The quay previously mentioned is illustrated here - this can also double up to serve as a node for a possible ferry service.
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pjazza
path linking pjazza to the beach
public beach
Phase 3 Heightening the tension between construction and the social realm the next phase includes the creation of a pedestrian link from the main piazza to the bay. This would allow for a direct connection with the beach surrounding the facility. This link offers potential as the starting point for a pedestrian piazza which can grow in relation to the logistics center.
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Phase 4 This phase is representing this scenario where the social activities are gradually expanding. The space overlaps the construction area and programmatic growth happens as outlined in previous projects. The scale of the social realm above responds to the demand in a modular fashion.
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In a scenario where the pedestrian roof has fully overlapped the construction facility, the surface will be purposely perforated to maintain the tension with construction. Similar to Mike’s project, the public space would be built by reclaiming architectural elements within Paceville and repurposing them to create a gradual build up of landscape in a sedimentary fashion. This approach will not resemble museumification, but rather serve to maintain both the functional and cultural relevance of antique architectural elements.
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construction facility
transition zones
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additional openings
Phase 6 In the event where parts of the construction facility become redundant, the space can be engulfed by the social realm and vice versa. The facility may still provide the mentioned services - just at a smaller scale. This outcome may arise if construction within Paceville does not remain as constant.
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Currently the system is one where areas of construction create a vacuum until construction works are finished and the social realm only surfaces after the interim. In planning for phasing of construction the emergence of social spaces is motivated in parallel. This is extremely important in parallel with the overarching theme we have set for ourselves - to build on authenticity and cultural identity. Effectively, the same cranes which allow the erosion of cultural elements, now become the motivators for the next chapter of this story - and the pedestrian is a protagonist in this narrative. As the piazza meets the beach, the facility surpasses its logistical responsibilities.
View of the fully operational construction facility.
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View of the partially operational construction facility from the adjacent car park.
The link between the pjazza and the beach.
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Ring road tunnel complete. Entrance point to the logistical centre.
Tensions between infrastructural and social activities with the introduction of a passaeway linking the pjazza to the beach.
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Visual link to the facility.
Redundancy of activities generated by fhe facility translating into social activities.
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Social activities on the roofed social area. Addition of spaces may be added vertically once all the roofing is occupied.
VARIETY OF SCALE Through the implementation of this thinking the variation of scale in terms of human interaction is vital. This is best symbolised in the pjazza’s submerging. In accommodating new groups and hosting new activities the scale of buildings shows an inclination to grow. The pjazza is understood as a typology that relates with the human scale and hosts interactions, so equating it with the notion of new travel opportunities, it won’t promote a distant (new) Paceville on steroids, but rather the same Paceville constantly refreshing itself.
LAND USE CONFIGURATION
PROGRESSING DEMOGRAPHIC Continuing on the previous point, the architecture that develops needs to acknowledge the tendency Paceville has shown to be conquered by different groups over time, and therefore must facilitate their adaptation, rather than call for a clean sweep at any point in time.
THE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS EACH TEST SEPARATE ELEMENTS OF THE GREATER MASTERPLAN THE GROUP CREATED FOR PACEVILLE AS A WHOLE. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE PROCESSES AND SIMILAR ONES ACROSS PACEVILLE CALLS FOR A REHAUL OF POLICY AND A HOLISTIC VISION THAT WILL LEAD TO PIECEMEAL, WELL COORDINATED GROWTH. IN MANY DIMENSIONS THIS CAN BE SEEN AS AN EFFORT OF URBAN HEALING.
CULTURAL IDENTITY This growth, documented through the whole masterplan process, is one that contributes to the identity of the peninsula and uses that as a starting point. It is imperative that a vaacuum does not take over during the construction process because this will contribute to a blank in the story of the place. Measures, woven through our project, need to be taken to create a transition period that phases the process.
TENSION AS A COMMUNICATOR This streamlining of amenities and activities must not be interpreted as an attempt at clearing Paceville of its variety. This element of variety has been inherent to the identity attributed to Paceville and similarly needs to be conserved. Our project identifies the tension between these elements as the mode of their communication, and finds value in the collision of such behaviours. The streamlining of amenities is not intended to be reductive of cultural richness, but rather augmenting the urban efficiency.
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Land use and its division can no longer be characterised by the ‘plot’ as it currently is. Adding a vertical axis to land use designations will reinterpret the way we treat space and develop cities like Paceville. In considering the amenities and their configuration, a new way of developing prime real estate, will surface.
Essentially the approach has been to understand the potentials and deficiencies that the program presents and to build upon them. The approach was not about ‘parking’ but about the arrival or departure from our site. Similarly it was not about apartments, but about what people require to live.
When this thinking guides the planning of our cities, the office overlaps with the coffee shop. The churches we are faithful to then start to fold onto the nightclubs that we are similarly, religious to and this constant morphology makes for more of the same, but different Paceville. When the plan meets the section, and the two are almost not distinct, the planning process has become sensitive enough to create the adaptive spaces we have set out on.
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The street needs to be understood for the social construct it works as and the construction process needs to be acknowledged for the physical, social and psychological dimension it contributes to.