Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Heritage park development - Results

The Maltese Ministry for Youth and the Arts organised international design competition for a heritage park in Malta. This prestigious site on which are located the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra prehistoric megalithic temples, included on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992, is the object of long term conservation and planning measures, a top priority for the Maltese Government.

In conformity with the UNESCO-UIA regulations for international competitions, this open and anonymous competition, in a single stage, was approved by the International Union of Architects (UIA).

The site, of an area of some forty hectares, is located on the cliffs in the south-east of Malta.

The requirements of the programme were:
• the design of a visitors' centre and visitors' orientation point (tourists, students and researchers);
• the planning the of environs and accessibility to the edifices and highlighting the landscape of the site as a whole;
• the conservation and protection of the temples, including shelters.

All intervention had to respect the intrinsic qualities of the site and the authenticity of the eco-system and prehistoric vestiges in an integrated and sustainable manner using the most up-to date technologies.

The international jury was presided over by Andreas Hempel architect (Germany) and met in La Valette (Malta) from 26 to 29 April 2004 and examined the 47 projects submitted. It was composed of:
• David Pace (Malta) architect
• Stephen Farrugia (Malta) architect and town planner, representing the Maltese environment and planning authorities
• John Ebejer (Malta) architect and planner, representing the Maltese tourism authority

• Omar Rabie (Egypt) architect, representing the UIA
• Zaki Aslan (Jordan) architect, conservator
• Gaetano Palumbo (Italy), Site management
• Paulius Kulikauskas (Lituania) architect

1st prize
Walter Hunziker, architect www.hunarch.ch
in collaboration with Hugo Brulhart
Structural Engineer: Dieter Nydegger
(Switzerland)

2nd prize
R. Schuster, Daniel Mauser Fischer & Freidrich Zibell, Willner & Partner
Stahl & Weis
(Germany)

1st honorary mention
• Architectutal design-structural desgn-conservation
Architecture Project and TBA Periti (Malta)
Landscape Architects: WES & Partner (Germany)
Lighting Design: Frank Franjou (France)


2nd honorary mention
• Architecteam Lavie Amir www.architecteam.co.il
in collaboration with Yoav Lavie, Yuval Amir, Liat Weissbuch, Hillel Kleiner, Benny Shochat, Tamar Berger, Yael Heeya, architects.
Collaborator: archaeological and conservation expert Reuben Elberger
(Israel)


Special mention
Lieselotte Horner, architect www.s-o-l-i-d.at
in collaboration with Christine Horner and Christoph Hinterreitner (SOLID architecture), (Austria).
Structural Engineering: RW[t]+