The rooftop garden of the Valletta Design Cluster is one of the winners of the category ‘City Landscape’ of the international contest Premio – Concorso “City_Brand & Tourism Landscape Award” by Paysage Topscape.
The Valletta Design Cluster and the rooftop garden of this building – a legacy project of Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture – are a community space for cultural and creative practice situated in the renovated Old Abattoir building (il-Biċċerija) in Valletta Malta. The main aim of the Malta Design Cluster is to provide space and opportunities to Malta’s cultural and creative operators. This project which is now under the responsibility of the Valletta Cultural Agency, was partially funded by European funds and cost €10.4 million in total.
The rooftop project was presented for the award by Architect Frank Muscat of Doric Studio, the architectural firm that won the tender for the garden landscaping. The rooftop garden was designed by the 2018 Japanese Young Architect Award Winner Tetsuo Kondo. Architect Kondo’s concept is centered around the idea of a green sanctuary or oasis, which provides a space for renewal for both nature and people, within a highly urbanized but historically rich contest.
This award aims to promote and find new balances for spaces that are designed to allow both a physical and a theoretical relationship between the architecture and designed landscape. This will allow for new synergies to be promoted within buildings and nature for the new urban dynamics in the following themes; City Landscape, City Play, Brand & Landscape, Tourism, Landscape, Landscape in Light, and Digital Landscape.
This award is intended for Architects, Engineers, Designers and Professionals, Universities, Municipalities, Public Administrations, Public Bodies, Associations, and Foundations, who are awarded for the originality, innovation, and quality of the projects carried out.
