City Gate: Time to decide and move forward - DLH

Din l-Art Helwa, the environment NGO, this morning welcomed the attention being given by the government to the entrance to Valletta and the Opera House site and said it awaited Renzo Piano's designs with interest.

"Din l-Art Helwa believes that any designs put forward should be in consonance with their surroundings and take due account of the size, scale and idiom of Valletta as a historic city whose roots lie in the baroque. This does not preclude a contemporary architectural style that is harmonious with the existing urban fabric. The project should conform with the Venice Charter, which is not restrictive but sets the concept of sensitivity to the old whilst allowing the new."

DLH said any such development in such a sensitive area was bound to arouse passionate debate and differing opinions, but it was time to take a decision and move forward.