The Maltese Facade

The Maltese Facade

The Maltese facades are a reflection of what the country have been through and what the population’s lifestyle and way of decorating is. A typical façade includes traditional windows, ceramic house name plaques, vibrant wooden doors with impressive knockers and decorative balconies complimenting the whole aesthetic pleasure. By far, these facades create a certain mood to the everyday life of citizens, reflecting with the sunny weather and seascapes, blending with a calm environment throughout. They produce a colorful soothing imagery to the villages and cities, adding value and standard of content living. It contrasts with the dull busy cities in other modern countries where you feel more stressed when having a bad day. Craftsmanship vibrates in our façade furniture, showing our fathers’ dedication to keeping patriotism ongoing for a beautiful country, while respecting our past in good and bad…Keeping the vernacular love our ancestors flourished.

In most facades, the yellow color is the boasting contrast of the Maltese Limestone with the rest of the painted doors etc…The bottom part with the doors mostly are painted and the top part with the balconies left with the limestone showing. It is interesting how they vary between each other, also deciding with the neighbor for the whole façade working together as a whole visual image. This exposes the connection Maltese have with each other due to their friendliness and small geographical scale. Vibrant saturated colors have always been popular in the country, maybe due to the flag colors, sea and bright days. The colorful harmony in the streets compliments the joyful mood Maltese commonly have throughout the day, especially with the sunny weather.

Primary Source from Mdina

Primary Source from Mdina

The balconies vary from one village to the other, for example Valletta’s majestic decorated motifs which represent the city’s history. Political statements were expressed with the balconies themselves, featuring the portico surmounted by the balcony made out of marble. The entrance to the balcony is through a door with Corinthian pilasters and crowned with a broken pediment. The extreme beauty of the baroque guides the viewer to the whole façade, also telling visually the viewer what the political relation is to the building.

Influences seem to be from Spain as it governed Malta from 1282 to 1530. Decorative motifs with the Acanthus Leaf appear with enclosure. Spain’s seem to be more elongated and decorated with detail, highlighting the country’s culture and overall aesthetic.

Egyptian balconies seem to be similar in the enclosure, also in the variety to them like ours. Their motifs represent strongly the country and its culture, but differ the color variations. Maybe a reflection on their dull surroundings and environment with the brown color scheme. They seem to prioritize privacy unlike ours, as their windows are made from what seems to be wood accompanied by high detail of pattern. On the other hand, ours may be due to the fact that we are of a small scale and almost know each other by large numbers, especially in the same road. We are friendly to anyone by nature, thus it is not a problem for us to be designed that way.

A fusion of modern and traditional aesthetic seems to blend and function well with a project designed by Chris Briffa, consisting of a traditional balcony with the ability to dissect it in half by doors, revealing the bottom part which enables a full view while getting a touch of contemporary image.

As Malta is an Island, the door-knockers reflect the sea with decorative sea creatures and vibrant finishes. These reflect the owner’s personality and were introduced long after the “scratching method” where people used to scratch on doors instead of knocking. The designs are similar to knockers of Japanese doors and feature lions like ours, only we use the Maltese Cross the most. In contemporary methods, the knockers remain the same, but highly 
polished every time. 
The Maltese facade inspires me to create a project consisting of a scale model including the facade all in black with a feature we use on coffins. This triggers the public's view on how we should never forget this shell we have surrounding our country. It will also reflect on how we are killing this facade by time.

References: 

Vassallo History | Maltese History & Heritage. 2015. The Maltese Balcony | Maltese History & Heritage. [ONLINE] Available at:https://vassallohistory.wordpress.com/the-maltese-balcony/. [Accessed 15 May 2015].

Share My Travel – The Maltese Balcony | ShareMyTravel. 2009. Il-Gallarija Maltija – The Maltese Balcony | ShareMyTravel. [ONLINE] Available at:https://sharemytravel.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/il-gallarija-maltija-the-maltese-balcony/. [Accessed 15 May 2015].

Ottsworld. 2015. Maltese Balcony Origins. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/maltese-balcony-origins/. [Accessed 15 May 2015].

The Malta Guide. 2013. Mdina Door Knockers. [ONLINE] Available at:http://themaltaguide.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=300:mdina-door-knockers&catid=46:blog&Itemid=77. [Accessed 15 May 2015].

Anecdotes from Malta: Some Maltese Door Knockers. 2010. Anecdotes from Malta: Some Maltese Door Knockers. [ONLINE] Available at:http://anecdotesfrommalta.blogspot.com/2010/03/some-maltese-door-knockers.html. [Accessed 15 May 2015].

Secret doors to balcony with a view - timesofmalta.com. 2014. Secret doors to balcony with a view - timesofmalta.com. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140302/local/Secret-doors-to-balcony-with-a-view.508823. [Accessed 15 May 2015].