Call to schedule modernist icon Palazzina Vincenti

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has concluded that Palazzina Vincenti – an iconic modernist building in St Julian’s dating back to the late 1940s hotel – merits inclusion in the list of protected buildings.

The building fronting the George Bord Olivier main road, is threatened with complete demolition for a bland 14-storey, 136-room hotel presented by developer Carlo Stivala, in plans by architect Robert Musumeci, the Labour government advisor on its planning reforms.

But the Superintendence said the property merits scheduling, so that it may be protected and retained “due to their historical, architectural, social, research, representative, contextual and rarity levels”.

Moreover the proposed hotel is considered objectionable in view of its adverse visual impact on the nearby urban conservation area of St Julian’s, and in close vicinity of several scheduled properties such as Villa Leoni, Casa Caruana Dingli and Chateau en Mar. The landmark is a defining part of the St Julian’s streetscape, marking the midpoint between Balluta and the St Julian’s bays.

Palazzina Vincenti was described by Malta’s cultural watchdog as a “well-proportioned modernist residence” that was previously the residence of Gustavo Romeo Vincenti, “one of the most prominent architects of the first half of the 20th century, particularly well known for his architectural style that was heavily influenced by geometric shapes and forms”.

The property was also a “pioneering example of modernist architecture that made use of reinforced concrete in a domestic setting” and its design as “one of the best modernist examples in Malta”. The building is also representative of a period of experimentation with “materials, geometry and styles”, influenced by international architectural movements.

While it is the SCH which makes an assessment of the value of properties proposed for scheduling, it is the Planning Authority’s executive council which has to approve the scheduling.

The request to protect the building was originally made by architect Edward Said in February 2019. The SCH says that for the past months it has been studying the works of Gustavo Vincenti with the intention to schedule “the best example” of his legacy.  It also said that it has assessed Said’s report and concluded that the property has such historical and architectural value, that it has “officially commended to the Planning Authority that the property is scheduled, in accordance with Article 58 of the Cultural Heritage Act”.

Other buildings designed by Vincenti, who was both an architect and a developer, include the Italian embassy and Vincenti Buildings in Valletta, a large block of apartments constructed in the 1930s.

Ultimately his versatility led him to shift towards modernism and experimentation with reinforced concrete, therefore evoking a new architectural language.

Some of his buildings are influenced by Swiss French architect Le Corbusier. According to Said, this style is epitomised in Vincenti’s personal mansion in St Julian’s “where fillet-edged cubic volumes pierced picture windows and divided with spacious concrete cantilevers all sit on a podium of garages”.