Svetozar Andreev Reimagines Iconic Azure Window as a Metallic Arch


Heart of Malta. Image Courtesy of Svetozar Andreev

Heart of Malta. Image Courtesy of Svetozar Andreev

Russian architect Svetozar Andreev has released a new vision for the stone Azure Window arch of the Maltese Islands. The iconic landmark collapsed after a storm in 2017, and Andreev proposes a new mirrored metal arch to take its place. Dubbed the Heart of Malta, the design was created as a polygonal form with the same size and proportions as the original limestone arch. Inside, a new exhibition space will include five floors connected by a central spiral.

Aiming to create a new tourist destination in Dwejra (San Lowrenz, Gozo, Malta), the 5,000 sq meter project would be a new architectural and cultural landmark along the coast. Andreev collaborated with Elena Britanishskaya and hopes the project will be an investment for the future of Malta and Gozo, a design that takes advantage of the latest techniques and materials available in architecture and shipbuilding to reflect the environment of Dwejra. Andreev made the design to symbolize a fusion of “modernity and nature, of time and history.”

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