Facadism and its consequence in urban conservation areas : the case of Sliema

Abstract

The conservation of the built heritage is an important part of urban planning and development in many countries around the world. However, it is not an easy and straightforward task to protect our built heritage, and sometimes, choices have to be made upon the destiny of a history building. Sometimes, that choice may be to opt for facadism which is commonly understood as being the retention of the facade of a usually historic building with the Introduction of a new construction behind the said facade. This study aims at analysing the current situation in Malta taking Sliema as a case study, with regards to the practice of facadism. It investigates how facadism impinges upon the original fabric of the historic buildings situated in Sliema's Urban Conservation Area.