Dal Bauhaus a DAAA Haus, modernismo cosmopolita a Malta

From Bauhaus to DAAA Haus, cosmopolitan modernism in Malta 1 3 Near Malta’s capital city of Valletta, DAAA Haus – Design, Art & Architecture Associates has recently completed Park Heights, a multistorey building with a streamlined design [2] openly inspired by Bauhaus-era modernism. In addition to a small 36-suite hotel, a business centre, a cafe and a rooftop bar with swimming pool [1], the complex also contains DAAA Haus’s new headquarters [3], which occupies two levels. The administrative offices and client reception spaces occupy the upper floor, while the creative atelier proper is located on the lower floor. The interior design adopts an intermediate configuration between a complete open plan and a more traditional division into enclosed spaces. On both levels, spatial continuity is accentuated by the singlematerial surfaces of the ceilings and floors, the former in opaque light grey cement resin and the latter in exposed concrete painted a soft sky blue. For the partitions, DAAA Haus chose lightweight solutions: folding textile walls that can be extended to create temporary rooms, and large fixed glazed surfaces with slender frames. These devices maximise the penetration of natural light, which is abundant thanks to the building’s corner position on the block, and ensure visual permeability when desired. At the same time, with their bright colours – orange for the fabrics and coral red for the frames – they provide cheerful pop counterpoints set against a more neutral backdrop. The kitchen area is distinguished by another touch of chromatic intensity: the same Yves Klein blue extends from the floor to the back wall and ceiling, framing the island unit and cylindrical chrome steel cooker hood. The fulcrum of the studio’s conviviality, this space combines references to industrial aesthetics and 20th-century artistic experimentation. In the words of Keith Pillow, founder and creative director of DAAA Haus: “As true admirers of Bauhaus values and everything that was spawned by its experience – i.e. the golden age of design in the middle of the last century – we wanted our Haus to represent the essence of this reference, to evoke it inside and outside the building. This choice, among others, allows Park Heights to fit harmoniously into the cosmopolitan atmosphere of its Maltese surroundings.”