Architectural Ruins: A geocultural essay on the anatomy of buildings as illustrated by Casa Ippolito, Malta

Abstract

Ruins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Casa Ippolito, now in ruins, is typical of seventeenth-century Maltese aristocratic country residences. It represents an illustration of secondary or anthropogenic geodiversity. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in reconstructing the building’s architecture. The methodology involved on-site geographical surveying, including visual inspection and non-invasive tests, a geological survey of the local lithostratigraphy, and examination of notarial deeds and secondary sources to support findings about the building’s history as read from its ruins. The results are expressed from four perspectives. The anatomy of Casa Ippolito, as revealed in its ruins, provides a cross-section of its construction history and shows two distinct phases in its construction. The tissue of Casa Ippolito – the building elements and materials – speaks of the knowledge of raw materials and their properties among the builders who worked on both phases of its construction. The architectural history of Casa Ippolito reveals how it met its inhabitants’ needs for shelter, water and food. Finally, the ruins in their present state bring to the fore the site’s potential for cultural tourism. This case study aims to show that such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its former dynamics. Ruins offer an essay in material culture and building physics. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are anthropogenic essays rendered in stone which facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for human users; they are a statement on the wellbeing of humanity throughout history.