MICRONATION SERIES
For Norbert Francis Attard, the dichotomy of harmony and disharmony is fundamental to the Malta Design Week 2014 theme, MICRONATION. A micronation, Attard elicits, is a counteraction to the norms of the social order, demanding something new and diverse to the status quo. The disharmony from the conventional which is generated through the founding of a micronation may itself be harmonious. The detachment itself may not result in chaos, but the discourse around it engenders antagonism between members of the nation and those of the micronation. The controversy surrounding the stylistic dissonance embedded within the history of the Opera House/ New Theatre alludes to the harmony/disharmony binary essential to the occurrence of micronations. The element of isolation resulting from the establishment of a micronation is also for mally represented at the Theatre, according to Attard. Two large plinths at the front left and right corners of the building, which are part of the original str ucture, remain dissociated from the whole design, and thus provide the ideal foundations on which Attard could render his project. Atop these plinths, the ar tist proposes to constr uct sculptures radically different in design to that of the Theatre and of Valletta, with influences from Moder nist architecture and design, engendering a stylistic r upture from prior architectural traditions. Attard is to challenge himself to create a har mony within the dishar mony, besides from the har mony of the singular constructions. Such an eclectic display of architectural history and the corresponding factors between all the par ts attempts to question beauty and public perceptions towards it according to the social context of the viewer.
MICRONATION I
Hard stone from Gozo
Malta design week 2014
Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta, Malta
2014




