Balluta Buildings
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Balluta Buildings
| image = 300px
| image_caption = View of Balluta Buildings
| status = Intact
| building_type = Apartment building
| architectural_style = Art Nouveau
| location = Balluta, St Julian's, Malta
| coordinates = {{coord|35|54|50|N|14|29|40|E|display=inline, title}}
| namesake = Oak trees (ballut)
| completion_date = 1928
| client = Marquis John Scicluna
| material = Limestone
| architect = Giuseppe Psaila
}}
Balluta Buildings is an Art Nouveau apartment block overlooking Balluta Bay in St Julian's, Malta. It was built in 1928 for the Marquis John Scicluna, and it was constructed to designs of Giuseppe Psaila. The building is considered to be among the finest of the few surviving examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Malta.
History
The building's site originally consisted of terraced fields, which were incorporated into the garden of the nearby Villa St Ignatius in the early 19th century.{{cite journal |last1=Caruana Dingli |first1=Petra |title=Drawings and Descriptions: Villa Belvedere in Balluta |journal=Vigilo |date=2020 |volume=53 |page=28–32 |url=https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/58690}} In the 1920s, the villa and its grounds were divided and sold off, and the first part of the former garden to be built up was Balluta Buildings.{{cite web|last1=Said|first1=Edward|title=St Ignatius Villa, Scicluna Street, St Julians – Heritage Assessment|url=http://dinlarthelwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/034259_Heritage-Report.pdf|website=Architecture XV|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420183806/http://dinlarthelwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/034259_Heritage-Report.pdf|archivedate=20 April 2018|date=November 2017}} The apartment block was constructed in 1928 for the Marquis John Scicluna, and it was designed by the architect Giuseppe Psaila.{{cite book|last1=Muscat|first1=Mark Geoffrey|title=Maltese Architecture 1900–1970: Progress and Innovations|date=2016|publisher=Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti|location=Valletta|isbn=9789990932065|pages=11–15}} The building's name is derived from the oak trees ({{langx|mt|ballut}}) which grew in the area in front of it, that also gave the bay its name.
File:Malta - St. Julian's - it-Telgha ta' San Giljan - Balluta Buildings 05 ies.jpg
The building originally contained some of the largest and most luxurious apartments in Europe, and it became a prestigious address in Malta. Due to rental laws, many of the tenants and their heirs kept the apartments for a small nominal rent. Out of the twenty apartments, sixteen remain in the hands of the tenants' heirs, three have returned into the possession of the owners, and one was sold to a third party. Some food outlets occupy shops at the buildings' street level.
The building remains intact and in relatively good condition, although it is in need of restoration. It is scheduled as a Grade 1 monument, and it is listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.{{cite web|title=Balluta Buildings|url=https://culture.gov.mt/en/culturalheritage/NICPMI_Database/01212.pdf|website=National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422115330/https://culture.gov.mt/en/culturalheritage/NICPMI_Database/01212.pdf|archivedate=22 April 2018|date=28 December 2012}}
Architecture
File:Malta - St. Julian's - it-Telgha ta' San Giljan - Balluta Buildings 02 ies.jpg
Balluta Buildings is one of the finest among the few surviving Art Nouveau buildings in Malta, and it is also regarded as Psaila's masterpiece{{cite book|last1=Hughes|first1=Quentin|last2=Thake|first2=Conrad|title=Malta, War & Peace: An Architectural Chronicle 1800–2000|date=2005|publisher=Midsea Books Ltd|isbn=9789993270553|page=139|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75IgAAAACAAJ}} and one of the most iconic buildings in the country.{{cite news|title=Grand design|url=https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150121/life-features/Grand-design.552800|work=Times of Malta|date=21 January 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422111953/https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150121/life-features/Grand-design.552800|archivedate=22 April 2018}} It consists of three connected blocks of flats, with three vertical structures having long vertical arched openings protruding from the rest of the building. These are topped with keystones decorated with a carved putto. The openings are flanked with a row of double windows and pilasters on either side. Each block is topped by a pediment, and the architraves below each have inscriptions which read BALLUTA (left block) BUILDINGS (right block) and A.D. MCMXXVIII (central block). The windows, pilasters and other parts of the building display intricate floral and geometric decorations.
File:DIMG 1577 (4996588527).jpg (left), overlooking Balluta Bay]]
The blocks are joined together with verandahs on the lower floors and a plain façade on the upper levels. A structure which contains a number of shops buttresses the entire building at street level, contributing to its three-dimensional quality. The building is constructed out of local limestone.
The twenty apartments within the block are large and luxurious, and they have high ceilings and columns. The interior is decorated with traditional Maltese tiles. The ironwork used throughout the building is of high quality, and it is uncertain whether this was the work of Psaila or another artisan.
See also
- Palazzina Vincenti, a Modernist building located at the opposite end of Balluta Bay
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{commons category inline|Balluta Buildings}}
Category:Apartment buildings in Malta
Category:Art Nouveau apartment buildings
Category:Art Nouveau architecture in Malta
Category:Limestone buildings in Malta
Category:Residential buildings completed in 1928
Category:1928 establishments in Malta
Category:National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands