The new City Gate and Parliament

Piano IS NOT a specialist in urban conversion, but a specialist in building design unlike people like Ricardo Bofill whose work I used as an example in my intervention below.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090627/local/the-new-city-gate-and-parliament

OK, Piano's project is fine but we did not get the best man for this job.

Mr Renzo Piano has shown great sensitivity in such a delicate project. He did not dare touch the ruins of the Opera House but was obliged to squeeze a Parliament somewhere. Considering the difficult task he had at hand, he must be congratulated for stepping carefully. However, 80m is alot of money; maybe the best option for Parliament would still be the Sacra Infermeria with Freedom Square retained and embellished as a piazza providing an open space in an otherwise crammed area. Money would be left over for restoration of St Elmo and with it regeneration of the lower part of Valletta.

London is an old city, it has cars and tube stations. Rome and Athens are even older than London, there are cars going round the Colosseum. and the Acropolis. Wake up Mr Vella, the world has moved on, cars were invented a hundred years ago or didn't you notice?

I really do not agree with the designs. So we will be having the House of Parliament as soon as we enter Valletta? It's like going to somene's house and finding the kitchen as soon as you enter. I would suggest an area that welcomes you, open space, something that goes with the city's architecture, not a modern building. It looks very claustrophobic. What does the parliament design have to do with the city?? And the theatre? It's goes with the saying "traqqa l-pannu bil-qargh' ahmar:!!

Baroque city? Not any more I think

stephen BAldacchino "Where Are we going to park our cars the residents of City Gate ?????? I" Oh my God!!!! Cars in a BAROQUE CITY !!!!!!!! I do not like it so it must be wrong. Valletta , the sacred city, does not deserve cars. It deserves something better as vehicles, something baroque such as the KNIGHTS left us. When are we going to learn that motor cars do not fit in a BAROQUE CITY????????????

Where Are we going to park our cars the residents of City Gate ?????? Its already a very big problem near city gate but as usual no one cares for us residents of city gate.

I think I like it, but the entry is still not MAJESTIC enough for such a historic city that is Valletta.

The two Monolithic Pillars on either side of the gate ahould be taller about 50 metres high tapering and without the pyramidal apex to retain a Maltese Megalithic Effect rather than an Egyptian Obelisc appearance/ look.

That would truly makes one breath deeper, as one pauses and hesitates to have a look at the gate from the bridge. It is all psychology and intension behind the shape and form that one seeks. It would not add much to the expense but the overall effect would be stunning to any observer.

By the way, for those of you who have never noticed - the world's great cities all incorporate notable buildings from different eras - it is the ones that are dying that do not...think about it.

"Qrid, qrid u iktar qrid" - can't think of any other words to describe most what is written below. Instead of being excited that Valletta is being endowed with something interesting, different, and bearing witness to the fact that it is still a living city not a crumbling tomb, most people just want to rubbish these amazing new plans. Can you all just get a life, people?

Well at last something might be done!! However a breach is not a gate. Surely a replica of the knights' or that left by the British bridge is more adequate for our capital city. Will an open air theatre be suitable in winter? Why do we need a new parliament, what's wrong with the existing one? Surely the size of the proposed parliament, will obstruct the view to the theatre on entering the "gate". We need to have something build in that square to return this beautiful city to its former glory.

I haven't yet been to Valletta to check out the project details in full, however the ideas and design being presented are very interesting. I must admit that when the breach was presented some years ago I did not like it, and I still have yet to get my head around that one.

So despite being one of those persons whose wish is to have a national opera house up to international standards, it is now time, to move forward with this project and remove this daily eysore; thus I wish the best of luck to Mr Piano and those involved in this project both present and future.

Most of the comments below are a perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, the people least competent to comment are the ones who are the surest in their belief that they are right. They are completely unaware of their incompetence in the architectural field.

At least I am capable of acknowledging that Mr. Piano is much more competent in this field than myself, and the vast majority if not ALL the people commenting here. Also, its difficult to imagine from the scale model, so lets wait till its built

Joe Cardona: Which Maltese architect did you have in mind?

YEAY ....architects we all become!!!
good to crit but pleeeeeese some humility!
we all seem to know it all!!!

entertaining like children playing with a tea set!

By the way:

That was the Antigone Quarter in Montepellier France. Just ONE example of fantastic urban conversion. The architect/urban designer was Ricardo Bofill.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Antigone_nuit_02_.jpg

How taste less we are!

Parliament house at the entrance of a city – purely totalitarian propaganda style which would have been favoured by the likes of Causescu.

Plus why are we cluttering the entrance of city gate?? We need to pull down buildings not add more! A massive piazza with water jets and trees would have highlighted the entrance.

Piano is not to blame. After all an architect transcribes the ideas that his clients put forward. One can see that Piano had to work within very narrow parameters and the essence of these projects was dictated by our taste deprived politicians.

However, is Piano the most suitable person for an urban conversion project? Piano is more of a building architect rather than an urban renewal architect. Our hit and miss politicians seem to have chosen Piano because he was the only famous architect they had ever heard of!

Look at what France, a country with a vision, can do! Now THAT's urban conversion!

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Antigone_nuit_02_.jpg

Dont like the fact that the brige is to be narrowed. Good idea with the garden under the bridge though. I was expecting a kind of porte-de-bombe entrance to valletta and not a tasteless plain breech in the fortifications.
I also do not like the proposed design for the opera house.
Parlament though looks good. I'd rather focus solely on building the parlament and leaving the other projects for further dates when sufficient funds are available to make the design worthy of Malta's capital city.

That Renzo Piano gate looks as thoughtfully made as the breach at Porta Pia through the walls of the Vatican in September 20th 1870

This model does NOT show those awful kiosks at the entrance to the city. Will they be cleared away to maintain the aesthetics of the new entrance?

All this shows that Renzo doesn't believe in putting the car first. Brilliant..

Along with this project, the park (at park and ride) HAS to be made multi-storey.

I am a housewife with two kids, my husband is unemployed and is like that for 8 months now I managed to find a job a month ago but as you can think I cannot afford to keep my family going alone with these peanuts I get!! And you think that I care about if the theatre should be with or without the roof!! u halluna tridux u ejjew araw minn xiex ghaddejjin ahna il-familji mela mohhkom f'dat teatrini ghax issa xbajna nigu njorati!!

It is too modern for something that is so historically significant.
When I come home to Malta, one of the biggest thrills is walk through the Arch to Valletta and then seeing Republic Street stretching down. That effect will be gone.
Europeans seem to want new and modern. New and modern dates itself quickly where as old and restored maintains it's charm.

It seemed to me that Gonzi was in a hurry to alienate us with this project...

But now it can be easily seen that the timing, as usual, was perfect. It coincides with the liquidiation of the Smart City project and the au revior to the promosed 5000 jobs in I.T.

I can live with the design for the opera house which combines an element of dignity for its past memory as well as evoking pride from a healed war wound, however I still feel that a better location for Parliament could have been found. The city gate itself is another issue altogether. I can see its attraction as proposed by Piano, can anyone please explain how vehicles entering Valletta will now access Hastings and Upper Old Bakery / Old Mint Streets. Accessing residence in Valletta is becoming a daily nightmare even now with two inner city entrances, if this is reduced to just one, I dread the outcome, please bear in mind that streets in Valletta are regularly closed off to traffic due to building upgrading and restoration works.

The new city gate is a narrow gap in the wall, nothing more. What will it instil more in the people entering Valletta when compared to the existing gate? A narrower bridge and all the other proposals surrounding the gate can still be made with the existing entrance if those are the main achievements.

As for Parliament it looks like a cinema complex, maybe it is looking good for some people from the air with the second block aligned to the cavalier and all that but what about at street level from Republic Street? Two flat stone quadrilaterals resting on a storey of glass. Almost uglier than the flats on the other side!

By wiping out Freedom Square one can confidently say that less people will be inclined to visit Valletta for leisure purposes. Valletta lacks open space and by eliminating Freedom Square, our city will fail to have an adequate space for open air cultural events such as the Carnival which attracts thousands of people yearly.
Why not find another area where to build a new parliament?

Gonzi's gonna ruin forever our beautiful capital just to try to win a few votes for the coming election. Who wants to find the parliament when he enters the city gate?

I truly hope that those against this shameful plan sound their voices so that this mockery to our prestigous city will stop before beginning.

And should these pseudo modernist intellectuals are now pleased with an odious scaffolding supporting some kind of metal partitioning erected over just 60 years old demolished building.

And where is the City gate design? Should now we call this breach a contemporary design? It’s the same case of the Emperor’s new clothes story.

These proposals are nothing but a sign of a decadent society that accepts everything without good taste and a lack of aesthetics. Beauty is a joy forever.

I shall never and cannot express the approval and appreciation for this project as for many cultural lovers; this is a sin against our culture and an insult to Valletta. A project like this is the kind to be found in Beijing or Malaysia but not in a European Valletta.

This project shall be listed in history as the Piano’s Paprata!
Is it possible that there are many who still do believe, if someone is famous so he’s the right person? I would have given Piano a chance yes, designing the airport or Tignie, but not Valletta.

And I didn’t attend for this presentation yesterday although I was invited as a matter of fact that I whole heartedly disagrees and cannot applaud the idea of leaving those brutal flats and erecting a parliament at the entrance of a Noble city.

And all those who claimed that Barry’s neo classical architecture didn’t compliment with Valletta, Ghandhom il-wicc issa jghidu li dan il-binja imtajra hija kompatibbli?!

Love the opera house. i think it s great. Mixing the old with the new. As for City gate, Its just a hole in the wall. Not the land mark it should be. I mean, it s great if there is a whole symbolic thing behinde it and everything but not everyone is an architect, so not everyone is going to see that. It s really nothing special at all. seriously- i just don t see why anyone is excited about something that is so bland, boring, and faceless. It just doesn t give Valletta an identity. Houses of Parliament...great! It s the entrance that just does nothing but sit there. If you take a photo of it no one is going to say -MALTA. Valletta is the blue print for every purpose built city in the world- including New York. Can't we give it the crown it deserves? Why does everything have to be flat? Why can t we explore height for a change?

sometimes you wonder if what you are hearing and seeing is true.sometimes you say am i seeing an illusion?because that's what i was thinking on hearing the new plans for the new entrance of Valletta.why should you be greeted with this modern type of buildings when you are entering this great city.why should a space like freedom square be destroyed,why should a street that takes the bulk of traffic entering this city be eliminated and divert this same traffic to create more pressure on the remaining entrances,what this on the opera house,are we creating a play mobile kind of thing.now theater now square.my god those walls integrated inside opera house.how unrealalistic.mr.piano if this is what you are offering us i think you should hear the ideas of the Maltese because they differ very much from yours.Mr gonzi if you don't have the finances to build a more decent city gate and a new opera house don't build this low cost farce

Apart from loosing parking places, which problem needs to be tackled as the project goes on.
I think that the park and ride system should be looked into and if need be more storeys should be build to take more cars....even if a nominal fee is introduced say 0.50 euro cent for parking and ride to valletta.
Also seeing that entrance is going to be an open space, were is traffic going to valletta being diverted now....all through castille place!!!!!!
These problems should be tackled before the project starts.

gcForte: No one in life can be 100% happy with everything as you well know. 80% is a very good percentage.

Looking at the times blogs this morning, I got a feeling that the Doomsday people are dead against it. They want Barry. And they want Valetta to remain as it is because, of all things, that excuse for a kitsch fest we call Carnival, where the worst of the worst comes out. At the very least, we would have got rid of the hideous Arena tal-Karnival made up of scaffolding and wooden planks. Soon we will have Astrid and her minions decrying the project, not because of the project itself, but “ghax ghamlu Gonzi” . Mark my words.
These people do not love Malta. Or Valletta. They just love their sense of importance. Now they are talking that “the People” want this, or that. They profess to speak on behalf of the people, without understanding that the people elected Gonzi to speak and do things on their behalf. No one elected the FAA except bored Sliema housewives with nothing better to do than go to some villa in Attard and paint.

Piano has connected the old and the new, the history with today’s spirit, the outside and the inside, in such a sweet way. It shows he is the best there is. If I had to be Piano, I would sweep away those flats opening a vista and connecting the two Cavaliers by less obtrusive but equally landmark buildings. But then that’s me. What he proposed is superlative enough. imagine if he could have gotten rid of the flats tal-gvern as well. The mind boggles.

The perspectives are also good in the ditch. He is treating this entry as his own, and his sense of connection and openness are between what lies beneath and the entry are refreshing. How we needed a critical but open mind like Piano’s .

These plans are a Masterclass in Architecture. The whole idea is to invite people in to enjoy Valletta, and to explore it, and to stay and not want to leave. The Bastions will be exposed for this effect. The entire project has a light, fresh and airy feel, as if Valletta is saying that it can be all things to all men and women of all ages.

Instead of that horrible, perit tac-civil designed arcade, we have an unencumbered and simple entry with the bastions flanking it, and with those two so evocative staircases. The Opera house ruins have been given dignity. The new parliament building will be a landmark of good design besides a work of art.

Renzo Piano has come up with a viable and beautiful solution. However, some of the points raised by readers are interesting. Regarding the width of the bridge and entrance this issue reminds me of the recent restoration of the Resurrection Gates at the Moscow Kremlin. Demolished during Soviet times to allow the tanks to roll in to Red Square at the annual October Revolution parade, the Russian government restored them in 1995, thereby giving the place its former integrity. Piano's proposed entrance to Valletta is more than sufficient for the needs of the city. If the breach is any wider one would have to add a gate structure whereas the current balance between modern and old is perfect. Concerns of Valletta residents about access following the removal of the overhead bridge road need to be addressed. Whilst I agree that the arcade and housing block to the LHS should ideally be removed and redeveloped, suitable rehousing that is fully acceptable to the residents would need to found and that is no easy task. Regarding the entrance on the outside, is Piano intending to go ahead with the removal of the bus terminus to the ditch area as previously proposed?

I say only one world

Horrible.

I think if the project was given to a Maltese architect it would be much better.

Please don't continue on and call again for new designs

I just do not understand why they say that Renzo Piano is the best architect in the world.
The best architects are all over here posting their ideas and as usual criticising all that the goverments does or wants to do.

thinking out loud from a layman's point of view.

the positives: the parliament house is an attractive piece of architecture and is well suited in our Capital's entrance. The garden under city gate will give some colour to this monochrome area.

the negative: Valletta will turn into one of these options.. either a ghost town after the elimination of three parking areas, (mainguard, freedom square, and under city gate), or a traffic dungeon with people looking for a parking spot, and with one perfectly good road eliminated from our map (the road on top of city gate). And what is this hole in the hole, surely these professionals could create something more eye-catching than two plane stone blocks!

I personally think that a lot of thought and work has been put into parliament house, and city gate was designed on a last minute... this is what it looks like. I hope that these people will be given a second chance to re-think and re-design our City gate.

@ Francesca Abela.......Will you please be kind enough and explain to me why the Prime Minister is 80 % happy with the whole project ? Is he a moaner too ?

Cudos goes to Dr Gatt speech yesterday - he mixed up Ft St Elmo with Fort St Angelo ...

On the other hand Piano's design is an evolvement of a cosmopolitan democratic city based on the founding the Romans had designed in their times, the forum [parliament], the amphitheater [culture and arts] with a touch of modernism and minimalism but keeping the neoclassical the British introduced as a relic. By the way many talk about keeping Valletta in baroque style, but unlike Mdina and Citadella, Valletta has always been developing by time, being conversions the Knights themselves made and also the introduction of neoclassical british architecture that was not matching but still made a mark ... so why not keeping evolving, at least we are not having the usual concrete monsters dressed as malls or flats!

Finally we have a design for the people, a design that function ... pity that what many and Piano himself proposed of a library in the first building, yesterday was 'rejected' in the speeches but a museum for our political history was mentioned, but howl vain with their doing are our politicians!

nemmen li issa l-pass li jmiss hu li nehhu l-block tal flats u l-arcade ghax dak vera ikrah u ha jkerrah il-progett

Dan id-disinn fil film 10 commandments. Li hemm illum veru dizastru, u anke naqbel li dan id-disinn huwa ferm ahjar, pero li tigix tghidli li ma stajniex naghmlu ahjar ta?

L-ewwel li ma jaghtini f'ghajni hija li bil bini tal parlament St James Cavalier tghatta ghal kollox, u t'teatru??? dik hija dahka fil wicc il-poplu taghna. Jien ghalija li nergaw nibnu t-teatru mill gdid u bis city gate ahjar kien ikun bizzejjed, il parlament hemm jistona bil kbir, il belt taghna bzonn aktar ftuh ghanda bzonn mhux aktar bini. Hemm missu giet funtana sabiha imdawra b sigar, bankijiet u restaurants, winebars, arts area etc u mhux kaxxa taz-zraben.

Insomma addio li xi darba naraw teatru sura ta nies bhall ma darba kien.

can anyone with the necessary expertise please tell us how the very first design of the city gate (or lack, thereof) was? I am referring to the old Porta San Giorgio, which was designed by Laparelli.. If I am not mistaken, the design was quite similiar to Piano's design, which was basically a city with non-stop fortifications except for the narrow-ish entrance which is once again being proposed now.

In my opinion, a minimal and elegant design. I just hope that they don't spend 80 million euros on it..

I am truly excited by the design. I feel that it truly captures the idiom of a people whose history is based on stone and for whom limestone forms its only natural asset . The concept of massive stone structures truly captures our heritage of the megalith people.
I also feel it is an improvement on his previous design .
Ultimately of course it is the interpretation of one great architect Renzo Piano at a particular moment in his brilliant career and like the work of any great artist you ruin the whole concept if you start tweaking our retouching in any way his design.
Let us have trust in his genius and have the courage to get on with the job. We have been waiting for over sixty years for this moment and I do not want that my grandchildren to remember this event as purely an exercise in architetctural design in the same unfortunate way that I remember my grandfather arguing and discussing the postwar designs for the rebuilding of the valletta opera house ruins.

@Edwin Cachia
"It-triq fuq City Gate se jisparixxu ".
Dan il progett ha jkun daqqa mortali ghar residenti Beltin, ghal min jahdem il belt , ghal hwienet fil Belt u ser izzid konfuzjoni ikbat tat traffiku fil Belt. Dan Il progett huwa farsa minnu innifsu. Alla Hares jigi implimentat ghax tkun daqqa mortali ghal wirst storiku ta pajjizna! Titjib? Dinjità? Identità? Storja? Teatru miftuh ha tkun farsa ohra!! Kemm ja jigi jiswa mit taxxi taghna dan il progett farsa?

I fully agree with Trevor Lorenzo Mizzi. In addition I suggest a Statue of La Vallette (and perhaps two--of Grand Master del Monte)--on each side of the Gate.

We must look for quality, for Art and not for this spectre of a design.

The designs of Piano bring back the dignity that Valletta deserves...yesterday marked the beginning of the regeneration of Valletta and we finally have a government who had the courage to walk the talk after so many years...Renzo Piano is a master at regenerating cities so for once we should be proud of our Capital City and of what it is going to be in a few years time...

Plans look nice but what baffles me most is why are we congesting the entrance so much?....would it not be much wiser and esthetically better to have more space rather than to cram everything? Parliament needs an historic building, is it possible we haven't found anywhere to house it?....Re Opera House, for Goodness sake give it back to us as it once stood!

In general I agree with the concept as presented by Renzo Piano. In particular his comments to accept the ruins of the opera house and love them as a monument to the folly of war struck a long hidden chord within my subconscious, perhaps even the national subconscious. My comment is that the project does not go far enough.

If anything is instrumental in lessening the dignity of our capital city it is the monster of the public transport terminus right outside the city gate. This is immediately evident when one looks at the plan of the project as presented.

Given that some sort of mass public transport system is already being envisaged between the city entrance and the ditch below, my suggestions would be:

1. Open up the ditch from the Customs area side to allow access and egress from both sides of the peninsula, perhaps on a one way system basis;

2. Organize the ditch into a modern public transport terminus;

3. Convert the present terminus and adjacent area into a park incorporating the Triton fountain and all the present monuments and leaving one avenue between Floriana and Valletta.

Tony Pavia

dalghodu rajt aktar fid-dettal tal-pjanti fuq il-website tal-prim ministru - www.opm.gov.mt/vallettaprojects

Dan il-progett hu enormi. Alla hares ma jsirx. Din holma, ejja naghmluha realta. Ejja ma naqaghux fin-nassa ta' dawk illi ma jridux li dan il-progett isir minhabba l-ghamad politiku.

Barra li dan il-progett ser jaghti spinta lil ekonomija minn habba l-investiment, kif ikun lest ser jaghti dehra li tixraq lill-belt, aktar nies, turisti u Maltin jidhlu l-belt u allura tgawdi l-kommunita kummercjali.

Kif tista tohrog kontra progett bhal dan...iva tista, billi tkun dhalt fic-cirku vizzjuz li tmaqdar kollox, dan kollhu ghax dak li hu porpost gej minn naha opposta tal-partit li thaddan. Pero, ma nehodiex bi kbira, tal-PL dejjem kienu kontra kull vizjoni ghal pajjizna.

"The road above City Gate will disappear".....

This means that one of the main entrance points to Valletta centre by car will be removed, causing (possibly) a lot of hassle to residents, shoppers and restaurant goers alike. It will also cause more parking problems as the road above City Gate also served as parking places.

How will people access Valletta, Hastings, etc? WIll traffic be routed from elsewhere therefore adding to the confusion... given that most of Valletta's roads are narrow? Or will Valletta be completely pedestrianised?

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Francesca Abela
What do you expect people to do with such a blasphemy Francesca?
Piano's design would have been acceptable in a modern city, but it is pure blasphemy in an old city built by gentlemen for gentlemen. Everything jarrs with the rest of the city.
How can anyone in his proper sense of mind think about a fortified city with a wide gap in the fortifications?
How can anyone not be against a modern lift on the outside of the fortifications?
I have a faint idea that I have seen a similar construction to the proposed city gate in some film, one of those big screen classics.
I am sure that if Piano had presented such proposals to the Grandmaster he would have been clapped in irons and never let out of the dungeon.

Can't agree with this design.
If the PM and his Government would go ahead with this project they shall be held responsible for squandering public funds and make a mockery of Valletta.
Why?
Mr.Piano has confused the whole issue with that breach.
A Breach in a fortified City such as Valletta would show that this city has capitulated and surrendered thus gives the impression that it is a weak city as past glories go by.
As he is Italian he knows well that Valletta never capitulated when heavily bomb by the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe.
Mr.Piano might be called a genious architect but he has failed totally in this project.

I give it a thumbs down like his ancestors did in the arena. NO WAY!!!!

Dr.Gonzi can you be relied to do something positive as what you have produced so far are self inflicted disasters?

What is wrong if one had to alter a bit the previous entrance of Valletta and re the ROH use the Berry design?

Can you listen to the people for once and stop this nonsense?

L-ewwel dahla ta' bieb il-Belt kienet propju kif qed tigi proposta minn Renzo Piano. Kienet dahla fuq is-swar. Ogghobni l-fatt illi ser jerga jintuza l-bridge originali li ghadu jezisti midfun minn dak li hemm bhalissa. Minn kif smajt lil Renzo Piano jispjega l-bierah, l-wisa tal-bieb li hemm bhalissa ser jihdu postha ghamla tas-swar maghmula mill-gebla maltija. Belezza !!

Mela dak li hemm illum bieb ta' garaxx ! jien ma nistax nifhem u noqghod bi kwieti meta nara li hawn certu (4 minn nies) li jaghmlu minn kollox biex jaraw li dan il-progett jisfratta.

Bhalissa l-entratura tal-belt, hija pastazata. Tidhol minn triq li tkun mimlija taxis u bejjiegha , minn go bieb bla stil qisu garaxx u ssid ruhek go parking area.

Hekk triduha l-Belt taghna !!!!?? Prim Ministru...xammru l-kmiem ha nibdew u narawh lest.

Ghamilna kburin li ahna Maltin !

From Porta Reale to Putirjal to Bieb il-Belt to Ix-Xaqq tal-Belt.

Nice going.

Thank you Dr.Gonzi.
You have pulled the wool over our eyes (yet again) and conned us, the electorate, ably aided and abetted by Mr. Piano. It is obvious that you always were of the intention to build parliament at the entrance to Valletta to the detriment of a theatre and you obviously specified this to the architect in your brief. AND as an afterthought you asked him to errect scaffolding and put up partioning to contain the old ruins....then call it the Royal Theatre. I hope that you and your fellow parliamentarians, all 60 of you, enjoy the space you will occupy to the detriment of the majority. Shame on you. Incidentally the plan would fit anywhere in Malta but definitely not in Valletta.

Bernard Storace

I have a small niggling feeling that Valletta will turn into another soul-less glass house.. I might be mistaken, let's wait and see.

Now, that the plans have been revealed we, the people can comment albeit to no avail.
I have written before hoping that valletta will have an entrance befitting a fortified city but it seems that what I feared is to happen, that is, Valletta will have a breach, in fact two instead of a gate. To those who argued that Berry's opera house was not consistent with Valletta's architecture, and they are right, I ask them what about these plans? Piano is indeed an artist of world renown but that doesn't make him infallible or beyond criticism. The designs of the theatre and parliament building are attractive and artistic but they do not go with valletta. By eliminating the gate Piano wanted to give the impression that Valletta is an open, welcoming city but that feeling could have been achieved even if a suitable gate was introduced. One cannot ignore the fact that valletta is a fortified city surrounded by bastions.
Perhaps in time the new buildings will grow on us and our children and in the future they will not look so jarring.

Excellent! I sincerely hope that Malta has the courage to go through with it.

The House of Parliament block uses its 4 levels of unshapely volume rather sparingly. It eliminates the concept of division on an 80-member quasi horseshoe level where visibly crossing the lines, even unintentionally, will be much easier. The other 3 levels are dedicated to a 170 odd seat Press and Strangers Gallery, where strangers nowadays very rarely attend and no strategic positions for TV cameras have been thought of.
I opine all this volume could be more feasibly managed by moving House and gallery to the more spacious upper levels (only 2 would be needed), and using the lower levels and digging a spacious basement for the other services, obviating the administrative block.
Even if the Parliament block would occupy a larger footprint, it would still provide space for a full theatre (whose nature would still have to be discusssed) to spill over into as much as 1/3 or more of Freedom Square.
As it is, I see that the theatre problem has been "conveniently shelved", blending history with innovation, but furthering the discussion gap to unimaginable limits. That is why government should not be categoric about time-frames and open up a debate for criticism and revision.

The moaners and groaners are at it again. They slam the project without even trying to understand it! I suggest that government builds a mega bingo hall instead because that would most probably please these lot!

Flahhar tfacca xi hadd jaghamel xi haga......

its a brilliant hole in the wall.

combined with an eyesore that doesn't fit with the baroque character of the city. disgraceful. and people keep on showering this pitiful excuse for a design with undeserved praise. improvement? dignity? identity? history? HA!

what a pity.

Farrett f'wicc il belt.

I have also seen the model on TV.
A modern blasphemy in an old city built by gentlemen for gentlemen.
We are witnessing a replica of the Fascist City Gate development.
Extremely disappointed.
I hope that Parliament has enough sense and the slightest modicum of decency not to approve Pianos destruction of our Capital City.

That is it?
This is got to be a joke right?
The Marina Gate during demolition in April 1884 looked better than this con job !!
See for your selves, http://www.mercatorproject.eu/on-line-atlas/malta/valletta/victoria-gate/view