Cultural Observations - Malta & Manchester
- Victoria Lynch
- Apr 15, 2016
- 5 min read
Through spending time in Malta over the last 10 years, I had formed opinions on what to me are typical Maltese traits...the things that have previously drifted into my vision of Malta and are a part of why I love the Islands so much.
The above three observational drawings (in progress) clearly document the use of the pavement as a part of the claimed and used public space in Malta.
Much of life is spent outside. The typical Maltese architecture is normally single skin, limestone houses with louvered shuttered windows and Maltese Balcony, which is (a wooden structure with windows on three sides).
All windows are usually left open during the day, with the shutters shut against the sunlight. This helps to keep the house as cool as possible during the summer, yet through the day the still heat builds up, as the limestone warms in the sun.
If the breeze is in the wrong direction 'inside' can be stiflingly hot, which makes sleeping impossible. In most towns and definitely in Sliema where I am based, most of the houses are what we would call ‘terraced’ or ‘town houses’ with their front doors opening directly onto the pavement. The extension of the doorstep and pavement as a part of the social area of a dwelling is one endearing feature common in the streetscapes of the Island.
left: One of my compositions of a typical street scene in Malta showing the limestone houses with beautiful Maltese Balconies. People walk in the streets and claim them as their own...the cars have to wait!
It is not unusual for neighbours to sit on adjacent or opposite steps chatting away in the cool breeze. Dining room chairs are also brought outside onto the pavements and groups of people will sit chatting during the day, or after dark. Where ever there is a cool breeze people will instinctively gather, rather than staying indoors where the temperature is higher. In the evening when the sun goes down and temperature cools, the promenade is alive with people walking up and down, or sitting on benches or steps and socializing.
If I walk with my wonderful neighbour, who was born in the house she lives in, we can not get more than 50 yards without somebody saying ‘bye’…which is their greeting of hello, the communities are close knit and contacts are kept throughout life due to the social outdoor lifestyle.
Right: One of my drawings of people sitting on the step chatting - claiming the pavement and streets as a social area
The Maltese alfresco life contrasts quite significantly to the lifestyle, I have in England, which tends to me more disconnected.
In contrast to the experience I have in Malta, my walk around my neighborhood in Manchester's suburbia, I barely recognize more than one or two of people outside my own street and immediate neighbours, even though I have lived in Manchester for 18 years.
A product of a cooler climate, our busy lifestyle, and our transient presence in communities, most people tend not to engage freely or acknowledge each other.
We drive from work to home, then do the 'two second dash' from car to house door, not stopping to talk on the way and protected and insulated from the world by our walled and hedged front gardens.
Lingering for any length of time on steps and ledges seems to be the domain of the homeless here.
The architecture and layout of most streets is different, in that homes usually have gardens or space in front of the house and between dwellings with walls fences or hedges giving privacy and discouraging exchange between neighbours.
Our insulated and heated homes are kept at a clement temperature year round making inside the so cosy, that sitting outdoors on the street would not be a natural way to socialise for people. People don’t tend to sit outside the front of houses, preferring secluded privacy of rear gardens and yards, even in the few brief periods of exceptionally warm weather. When I asked UK friends and neighbours, do you ever sit in your front garden? Most of them said no, they felt silly or exposed in their front gardens, yet the back garden was used for sitting as it was private and enclosed. It seems such a waste of a perfectly good sitting opportunity.
In the town centre there are not many open, public spaces, but what we have is used, as steps and seating opportunities are plentiful. However, my observations point to them being used as a one-off convenience, rather than for habitual social gathering or a catalyst for community.
Below: Some of my sketches observing the seating in the city being used to deposit shopping bags and to lighten the load for a few moments before carrying on shopping
Shoppers stop to lighten the load, placing their bags on seats whilst standing, workers sit to quickly grab a takeaway sandwich, travellers sit or lean whilst they wait for a bus or tram, whilst beggars claim regular spots on pavements largely ignored by the passing throng. In this busy world, very few people are chatting to passers by, and not many people seem to have time to just sit to contemplate the world. Most people stay just fleetingly, whilst they wait for a friend, or make a phone call.
Conclusions
Through these observations and my research, I am beginning to understand that people need to feel safe in an outside space to inhabit it. It also needs to be a part of the culture to sit outside, but we can change this if there is a will to do so.
Typically, people like to sit in areas that bisect pedestrian flows (1) so that they are in a busy and vibrant environment. In the UK most people need a reason or a 'prop' to sit outside on their own...perhaps a phone, a newspaper or a sandwich will give them a reason to be there, and to overcome the self consciousness of being alone. There needs to be a variety of seating opportunities at different heights and angles deep enough to accommodate the human backside (12-15" deep) and a variety of heights (1).
The more the streets are claimed and used by a community the more they become social areas. This quote from an essay by architect Louis Kahn seems to encapsulate my thinking...
“In a city the street must be supreme. It is the first institution of the city. The street is a room by agreement, a community room, the walls of which belong to the donors, dedicated to the city for common use. It’s celling the sky. Today, streets are disinterested movements not at all belonging to the houses in front of them. So you have no streets. You have roads, but you have no streets”. - Architect Louis I Kahn “The Room the Street and I” 24 June 1971 (2)
In the UK we regard streets as transit zones where the vehicle is given priority over the pedestrian...in our high speed lives the destination is given priority over the journey, speed is king and the road is a dangerous place to be. Whereas the streets in Malta are claimed by the people and used as an extension of the social area of a dwelling. As a result the streets are populated and feel much safer, making it a pleasant place to be and to linger.
I know which model I prefer, and along with my fellow neighbours in Manchester we are making changes to help our street to be a safer and more comfortable place to linger. We organise street parties, neighbourhood watch meetings, and community forums and slowly but surely, we are all becoming friends and a stronger and better community because of it. We are not quite at the stage of sitting in our front gardens yet, but who knows? ...That may come.
References
Project for Public Spaces http://www.pps.org - site accessed 5 Feb 2016
A+U Magazine 500th issue in April 2012 - republished Luis Kahn's Essay written in 1971 https://www.japlusu.com/news/room-street-and-human-agreement - site accessed 19 April 2016
