CODE | IMS5033 | ||||||||
TITLE | Maltese Landscape and Urbanism | ||||||||
UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
DEPARTMENT | Institute of Maltese Studies | ||||||||
DESCRIPTION | The Maltese Landscape and Urbanism study-unit will focus on the development of Malta’s urban and rural landscape and will look at a compendium of architectural elements present within. The aim of this study unitis to provide students with a solid foundation on Maltese, landscape, lifestyle and mentality. Participants will be able to examine how structures from Malta's past have been appropriated as potent symbols of a country in the making. The unit will evaluate the chequered past of the Maltese Islands and the way foreign presences have moulded and left a deep imprint on Maltese society. These accretions have been directly and indirectly distilled and integrated in Maltese rural, urban and military architecture. It will also attempt an analysis of south-eastern Sicilian geological, hydraulic and cultural landscape contexts by drawing parallels with Malta. The study-unit aims: - To provide students with a better understanding of the transformation process Malta’s urban and rural landscapes were subject to during the past centuries; - To give the candidate the opportunity to appreciate the development of Maltese Architecture from the Baroque period to the British period including Military Architecture; - To invite the students to have a better understanding of the importance of conservation of historical buildings; - To provide the students with the necessary skills to appreciate the Maltese urban, ruraland military architecture; - To show students how archaeology in the past had been used as a political tool to create a national identity and underline historical continuity and therefore legitimacy to one’s own country; Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - recognise the role of archaeology as a political tool to showcase political identity and historical continuity; - describe the historical development of Malta’s urban and rural landscapes; - correlate the importance of landscape and the study of rural architecture; - analyse the historical, technical, and cultural significance of the process of fortification and militarization of the Maltese Islands, the nature and development of the islands’ military architecture in response to changing technology and defensive requirements, and the influence of the fortifications and military facilities on the landscape, urbanism, architecture and the building industry; - recognise different architectural styles and movements; - demonstrate the value of town planning and civil architecture in baroque Malta; - evaluate the historical and socio-political significance of British colonial architecture; - characterise the evolution of local architecture and the built environment during the twentieth century 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - develop the capacity to critically evaluate archaeological interpretations that link material culture to forms of ethnic/social identity - understand the role and significance that the military and naval use of the Maltese islands has had on the social, economic, urban and rural and military development of the archipelago - understand the evolution in human settlement patterns and urbanization in Malta with the onsetof industrialization - understand the impact in terms of the built environment as related to Malta’s role as a fortress colony - be able to study rural architecture by applying the rules of archival research and landscape archaeology Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Reading lists will be offered by all lecturers. Publications, unless stated, are available at the University Library. Main Texts - Borg, M.: British Colonial Architecture – 1800-1900, (PEG, Malta, 2001) - Buhagiar, K.: ‘The making of Mellieħa’s medieval landscape: viridaria, cave-settlements and water management systems’, in Mellieħa through the tides of time, vol. 2, edited by Jeffrey Sammut, Mellieħa Local Council, Malta, 51-70. - Frendo, H. and Friggieri, O (eds): Malta: Culture and Identity, (Ministry of Youth and the Arts, Malta, 1994) - Spiteri, S.C.: British Military Architecture in Malta, (Malta, 1996) - Spiteri, S.C.: Fortresses of the Knights, (Publishers Enterprise Group, Malta, 2001) - Thake, C., ‘Art Nouveau Architecture in Malta’, in M. Camilleri, T. Vella (eds), Celebratio Amicitiae Essays in honour of Giovanni Bonello, pp. 327-334 (Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, Malta, 2006) - Vella, N. and O. Gilkes: ‘The Lure of the Antique: Nationalism, Politics and Archaeology in British Malta (1880 – 1964)’, Papers of the British School at Rome v.69, pp. 353-384 (2001) - Vella, N. and Spiteri, M.: ‘Documentary Sources for a study of the Maltese landscape’, in Storja, pp. 16-29.2009 |
||||||||
STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Visit | ||||||||
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||
LECTURER/S | Keith Buhagiar (Co-ord.) Denis De Lucca Mevrick Spiteri Nicholas Vella Vince Zammit |
||||||||
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |