Monday, 29th June 2009
City Gate project
What people are saying
Hundreds of curious people went along to view the new designs for Valletta's entrance as the display of Renzo Piano's plans opened for public viewing yesterday. Claudia Calleja got a sample of their thoughts.
Joachim Abela, 21, from Mġarr
I think the proposal is excellent. It respects the old opera house's site as much as it could have. Had it been re-built it would have been fake. I like the way Renzo Piano went about keeping it contemporary but, at the same time, respecting its past grandeur.
Michael Tabone, 55, from Valletta
It seems to be a very interesting project. I like the Parliament since it has a strong theatrical element. The plans for the opera house ruins are also interesting but I have reservations about the fact that it's open-air, which means it can't be used all year round.
Veronica Sultana, 55, from Attard
The design seems to be interesting but I'm not so sure about the fact that the opera house will be left open. Perhaps the designers have to think a bit more deeply about this point. Will an open-air theatre allow us to hear the singers' natural voices without the use of technology, or use the space all year round?
Kari Pisani, 29, from Valletta
I live in Valletta and I'm glad that something is finally being done about City Gate. There have been various ideas about what should be done and you can't satisfy everyone. So, it's a great thing that something is finally happening.
Ġorġ Pisani, 50, from Lija
The plans definitely make Valletta better than it is now. I like the fact that the new concept is not based on the past but neither is it solely modern. The way I see it, this will appeal to a number of people.
Roberta Montfort, 25, from Valletta
It's a very nice project but the only thing that worries me is that Freedom Square will be lost and there won't be place to hold the annual Carnival festivities. I take part in them and love them and I think they attract tourists.
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Comments
I do not believe the model was specifically advertised as being to scale, but rather an artistic representation of what is to be built.
Also, kindly check your keyboard, you seem to have a problem with the caps lock key.
For all the EURO THOUSANDS to be paid in fees , a MODEL (?) of Such QUALITY and STANDARD is not ACCEPTABLE.
THE MODEL at closer examination , (as per photo perspective) HAS very serious SCALE defects . ST . JAMES CAV. is drastically reduced in HEIGHT and AREA ! WHY ? Relatively the Govt. Residential Block height is exaggerated . Ordinance and Zachary STREETS seem to have lost their alignment . The Opera House Site seems to have been 'intentionally '? made to look smaller .! (will confirm all this by physically visiting the exhibition)
The Material is NON-REPRESENTITIVE and MONOCOLOUR. Thus portraying a FALSE IMPRESSION , especially the Parliament Building , with just Blank GEOMETRIC SHAPES . The PEOPLE deserve something much better . This is not a matter of SATISFYING just THE Hon. Prime Minister and his Minister and the few INTERESTED persons who are eager to see this project completed at all cost .! It's amazing how at this particular time, with the whole world in recession , and with all the defecits and debts our country (not the Government) has to pay up , money is being squandered .
Such events tend to be favoured in the winter, rather than the summer, where spending a night indoors might be better suited to the cooler months. So how would this work? Opera house in summer and Manoel in winter? -- sending us back ferrying to Gozo when we want to watch an Opera or Operetta?
Or maybe we should simply not refer to it as the Opera house any longer.
On a very much smaller scale, take the simple job of painting the black railings alond the Sliema seafront. Each year, some goverment workers come and slap on black paint without first cleaning the old dust and encrusted salt from the surface ofthe railings. Alot ofthe black paint is splashed onto the white/cream stonework below.
On closer inspection there are 4-6 bolts holding each railing section. Therefore, why not unbolt each section, have a bobile truck where they can be dipped/sand blasted or whatever method of proper cleaning then painted and reinstalled. This would also allow the stonework to be painted much easier and quicker. Infact the whole job would be much quicker, the quality would be of a much better standard and they would only then have to be painted every 3 years instead of each year.
The point I'm making is that some very nice enhancements have been made over the last 5-10 years but never properly maintained.
Why is Valletta regeneration a frivolous scope? It's our capital city remember.
When is the right time? 60 years have passed and nobody has ever found the 'right' time.
This is the last chance we have now...
Self-appointed amateur architects remain sceptical.
Who shall we heed?
I see one thing missing - a place to view Floriana, the Tritons and Republic Street. The street forming part of City Gate afforded me a place where i could stand and stare and while-away some of my time.
I still cannot give up the idea of the opera house as we had it, at least on the outside, at least. If you say that it was not majestic and worth of somthing national, than we live in very different streets. Neither can I imagine a national theatre with an open air roof with all that that means.
With the lack of open spaces in our city, especially when compatred to others abroad, wouldn't it be better to enliven Freedom Square rather than build it up?
I say full steam ahead with the proposed plan with one exception..... please keep freedom square as an open space!