Valletta : tales of a poetic city : understanding urban space through poetic interpretations

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to suggest a different way of approaching and reading the urban space, to reveal possible interpretations of the urban milieu where references to the idea and meaning of poetry as a sensitive art are being used to demonstrate how the cities one inhabits and the poetry as a form of expression could relate to each other. A proper understanding of the urban milieu includes much more than a mere fascination of its cultural landmarks and baroque buildings. It involves grasping sensations impalpable to our trivial perceptions, and it opens a deeper understanding of its potential and its temper. According to Richard Sennet, cities must be experienced through all senses, and the reason for an urban malaise is the sensual sterility that exists and through which we somehow could only see the city, but not feel it in its entirety (Adams & Guy, 2007) The study discusses the possibility to interpret the city space as a poetical text, as possessing its own language coded within its fabric. It suggests that by experiencing the urban space with our senses, by becoming aware to the noses, the scents and the imagery the city has to offer, one could delve into the true essence, the atmosphere of these spaces, learn their stories, see through the solid stone walls the essence and the secrets they hide. By entering into a physical relation with the spaces that surround us, where our body becomes a sensitive tool to decode a language soaked within the city fabric, a language which receives its shape, its meaning only when heard, seen and scented, one could feel how the material nature of the urban space fades away to be replaced by a poetry of expressions. Valletta is taken as a subject of exploration because it is a historical city with layers of sensations of various types. Unfortunately, today's understanding of the city is mostly focused on its outlook, on the outside cover or the visual appeal, in an attempt to attract tourists and investors. By providing an exploration of Noises, Smells and Sights, I wish to rediscover the richness of the city's many faces and offer an opportunity to reconsider the way we think, see, and feel the urban environment we live in; to provoke a different reading of the city's characteristics and personality.