Preserving tomorrow's heritage

I refer to the article "Built heritage of the 20th century" (The Sunday Times, Classified, March 16) which refers to the school in Qala, designed by Joseph Hunting-ford, describing it as "one of the finest examples of modern Malta and Gozo".

How ironic that less than 24 hours after reading this article, parts of this building were torn down to make way for a new Institute of Tourism Studies training hostel!

Both the Heritage Advisory Com-mittee and the Integrated Heritage Management Team at MEPA had advised that this building "be retained as part of our artistic heritage." Sadly, these warnings were not heeded, and MEPA approved the proposals.

The Chamber of Architects has launched the process of the drafting of a National Policy for Architec-ture, and this has the backing of a number of sectors of Maltese society, including Government, the Opposition and others.

One hopes that this policy will strive to foster a culture where it is not only buildings that are over 100 years old that capture the emotions of the public, but that this extends also to post-war and contemporary edifices that have important architectural value.

After all, today's architecture is tomorrow's heritage.