This year, Maltese architectural practice Architecture Project was behind Malta’s installation ‘Novelletta – Hysterical symptoms of the City in old age’ at the London Festival of Architecture.

The biennial London Festival of Architecture returned last weekend with a 16-day calendar to celebrate the buildings, streets and spaces. The festival not only aims to increase London’s reputation as a creative hub, but also places architecture at the forefront of the cultural agenda of the UK and every other participating country. This festival is curated by heavy weight architectural institutions RIBA London, The Architecture Foundation and New London Architecture.

AP, with practices in Malta, London and Croatia, is at the forefront of architectural design, consultancy, master planning, interior design and restoration. They have been entrusted with several significant architectural projects in Malta, such as the Manoel Theatre, the Barakka Lift, the Valletta Waterfront, the Malta Stock Exchange and more recently the City Gate Regeneration Project.

Novelletta was originally conceived as a printed manifesto born from the research, explorations and realisation of AP. For this Festival, AP transposed this manifesto into a three-dimensional experience in line with AP’s ambitions, activities and theoretical, academic and educational interests.

At the opening of Novelletta on 21 June, Malta’s High Commissioner Zammit Tabona inaugurated the installation and expressed his satisfaction at seeing Malta’s capital city, Valletta showcased in all its architectural glory and highlighted its legacy. He congratulated AP for their national and international achievements, pledged his continuing support and remarked that “today’s architecture, as it is introduced in Valletta, side by side with architecture from the past – must blend quickly and fuse with what precedes it” whilst “we must not think of today’s architecture any less, as after all, it is what will become the heritage of tomorrow”.

The opening evening proceeded with a short talk on ‘Heritage, Identity and Utopia’ by Konrad Buhagiar and Jens Bruenslow from AP Valletta and another talk on ‘Method’ by Riet Eeckhout and Ephraim Joris from AP London. Architect Konrad Buhagiar believes that an imaginary and radical approach such as Novelletta, instils discussion and discourse, which in turn fertilises the design process of real projects in a creative way and opens up new pathways and viewpoints.

Novelletta is being exhibited until 10 July at the Vincent Gallery of the Building Centre, Store Street, London WC1E 7BT.