Parliament design

I would like to refer to the decision by the government regarding the opera house. First of all I would strongly like to congratulate both the minister (Jesmond Mugliet) and the government for their proposal regarding both the future use of the building and its style and I personally think it is high time that Malta's capital city gets a neat and modern landmark building in such a prominent location.

Also I feel it is impossible for Parliament to operate efficiently at the President's Palace, in Valletta, and a Parliament building should always be designed in the heart of the town/city as it represents the very heart of the Maltese democratic system.

As for the design of the building, it makes no sense to design the building in the way Barry had previously designed it. Barry's building was designed at a time when that type of architecture was in demand and although I must admit that it was a nice building at the time there are many people who would argue that its style does not fit in with Valletta's architecture.

However, I strongly feel that given today's cutting edge technology and all those advances we have made in the construction and scientific fields, a Parliament building should represent these advances and it would be nice for future generations to associate the building with this century's architecture and technology and not the 19th century's. We Maltese must also remove our perception that a modern building will not fit in with historical surroundings. One must only look at various buildings in Europe to see that this is not the case.

However, I feel that I must express dismay at the government's announcement that the design of the project is to be entrusted to Richard England. Although in no way would I want my comments to be taken as criticism of Prof. England, as I hold his architectural quality in high esteem, I feel it is very unfair on practising architects and even more so on the younger generation of architects that an open design competition is not held. A competition would undoubtedly not only produce the best building in terms of cost and quality but it would also serve as a showcase for all architects involved as designing such a high profile building is definitely a good opportunity for any architect, young or old, to truly show off his/her talents.