Maureen German, Sliema
More homework needed on city project (1)
Whenever teachers have Parents' Day they always meet parents who do not like their children to be given a lot of homework.
Why? Mainly because this involves parents in a lot of work after school. They resent it. But homework is an important need in their children's education.
The need for homework must be instilled in every school-age child from very early on and homework is always much needed by people at the top. So many mistakes and miscalculations of financial spending occur because the powers that be do not do their homework well.
I will never forget when Joseph Calleja and his wife came to sing in Malta and the venue of Manoel Island was chosen. It could not start in time because the streets of Gżira were absolutely packed with people following their festa march. Traffic jams galore.
The then President Eddie Fenech Adami, who was always very punctual, arrived right on time. Not so the many patrons who turned up for the concert. They could not just leave their cars because theirs were not chauffeur-driven. The faux-pas of choosing this date came when at the end of the concert no one could hear a note because the festa fireworks started... "no homework done" and those seats were very expensive ones. The performing artists are now complaining about an open-air theatre because they are aware, far more than the clever Renzo Piano, what a lot of outside distractions Malta offers, alas!
The Maltese know that the Royal Opera House was precious to many. When it was burnt, it was rebuilt.
We do not want to be reminded of what it suffered in the war, it is not a ruin.
It became so because we can never decide to satisfy the wishes of a great majority who want it rebuilt... same as many historic buildings in Europe have been rebuilt, in Moscow, Dresden, Berlin... (to mention only a few).
Mr Piano's declaration that it would be a fake got accepted... it won't be a fake. Why not have a referendum and see how many want it rebuilt even if it would then be used as a multi-purpose theatre?
And what of Parliament House? It is in Malaya that there are houses on stilts, not in Mediterranean Malta. Many clever architects here know that the building is going to be too high.
My original suggestion was that the Opera House, if rebuilt in its former grandeur, can function as a theatre or maybe a place for the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra downstairs and have the top floor slightly higher and display the Flemish Tapestries. The viewing of these gems will turn out a fortune in no time at all.
If the €80 million earmarked to be spent includes a building on Freedom Square why not have an Opera House that would satisfy, to the full, the needs for such a theatre to make up for the deficiencies in theatres such as The Manoel and Mediterranean Conference Centre. The MCC would be ideal as Parliament House! After all it is really a conference centre not a theatre. The Prime Minister must admit that before saying yes to Mr Piano he should have consulted the experts and the public in general... a referendum would not be amiss.
Mr Piano came here 25 years ago and left with nothing being decided. The party in power thought of getting him back but without doing any constructive homework. Let us not end up building something in a hurry (the main reason to build in the next four years is to create work in a time of recession!) and then find out the building was done without sufficient homework.
My humble suggestion, for what it is worth, has quite a good following when it is submitted among friends. This is what is done in Malta... people meet outdoors and talk and one reaches a consensus. Our homework is done en masse !
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Galea. L
Aug 22nd 2009, 09:58
J Martinelli
You last post shows that you are so blinded by your support for the PN government that it does not even let you understand that a fortified city which has its gate removed would no longer be considered as such. It is not that it needs the gate for the original purposes, but in order to continue its historical heritage. If the Barry opera House did not harmonize with the rest of the city, can you explain how the idiotic ultra-modern Piano design includign tyhe Parliament on stilts and two breaches are going to harmonize? And you say you are not blinded by your support for whatever Gonzi and the PN does!!! Who told you that the Opera House will only be used for operas? And if it will be a replica, why don't you write to all the European countries who have rebuilt their famous buildings destroyed during the war exactly as they were before and tell them so Martinelli? Go on Martinelli. Do it. Yes Martinelli, if the Gonzi-Piano project goes ahead they will long be remembered in history as the modern vandals of our capital city whether you like it or not.
Joseph Sammut
Aug 22nd 2009, 05:50
@Martinelli:your argument with L Galea that becuase he wants city gate to have a door, then he must be still living in 1576, by simple deduction leads us to believe that becuase you are avantgard living in 2009, then you would want to do away with the bastions because to quote you: "Who need a door or a gate now? For what purpose?" Who needs bastions now, eh Martinelli 2009?
Franco Farrugia
Aug 21st 2009, 21:05
Right, then. Let's remove the Mdina gates, because the city is no longer closed at night! What stupidity is this? And if there is anyone who should quit commenting, it's people who have long since left our country for pastures new!
J Martinelli
Aug 21st 2009, 20:04
@ Galea L You must be still living in 1576 when it was still necessary to lock up the City of Valletta at night! Now who's living in cuckoo land? Who needs a door or a gate now? For what purpose? And if one is erected, would there be a sign with the opening and closing hours on it? Stop being insulting Galea whoever the heck you are. I do not idolize Gonzi, at least not the way you and many others idolized their leader and lit candles and coloured lights around his picture! So please either have something useful to say or close your mouth. You may be entitled to your own opinions, but I do not have to respect them unless they make sense. When you write about other countries rebuilding replicas, you are writing about those replicas whose architecture was of the same style of the rest of the surroundings. The Barry Opera House, although pleasing to the eye did not come close to the architectural style of Valletta and rebuilding it on the same footprint would not have rendered it economically feasible. Or, are you one of those who doesn't mind subsidizing losing propositions?
Steven Cilia
Aug 21st 2009, 19:00
@J sammut. I agree with you completely. City Gate needs to remain a gate. The value and majesty, and meaning of the bastions will simply be lost with a gap in the wall. Go tell the knights how beautiful Valletta`s entrance would be without the focal point being the gate. If we really want to modernise Valletta, might as well dismantle all the bastions, as they take too much space and are not practical anymore. Do we really want that? This project, if it goes ahead, will start the downfall of our majestic city, because if the main entrance to Valletta was not duly respected and restored , what can the rest of the city expect in the future?
Galea. L
Aug 21st 2009, 18:22
m attard Do you really believe that the Knights and anyone in his proper senses would build a fortified city and a capital city at that with a gap in the bastions? You must be living in cuckoo land. J Martinelli As usual you are wrong Martinelli and only trying to excuse your Gonzi darling. I have seen the models and they are a pure blasphemy. How much are you going to pay for getting on with it now Martinelli? As for rebuilding being fakes then tell it to all those countries who have rebuilt all their theatres, cathedrals etc exactly as they were previously.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 21st 2009, 16:30
I have been around on this island (and not living in any other country, for that matter) for the last 48 years and I have never witnessed any serious discussion about the Valletta project. So, so much for discussing this project for 60 years!
Secondly, I agree very much with what Mr Adrian Borg Cardona comments about 'whining' - a very recent and politically-charged term coined by PN apologists - a group of them, rather.
Thirdly, I happen to agree with Mrs German.
Joseph Sammut
Aug 21st 2009, 15:57
@m attard: a door was always meant for a gate, being a garden gate or a city gate. And yes there used to be a door to the gate which preceded the existin gone.
As for leaving architecture to architects: well, have a look around Malta and feast your eyes. And my dear m, architecture is a subjective matter: there is personal taste involved. So I wouldn't rave too much about piano.
Adrian Borg Cardona
Aug 21st 2009, 15:06
@ M. Attard: next time before you accuse me 'whining' (that's the current buzz word used by people who hate others making comments) please read my submission again. The words "Bieb Il-Belt" are on a plaque just outside City Gate, I assume the Valletta Local Council put it up. Secondly, Valletta is a walled city - no gaps would be allowed. In the old days there were doors which would be closed at night, hence the name. I might be whining but you are watching too much Net TV!
Adrian Borg Cardona
Aug 21st 2009, 14:59
Some people think that because a person has been hailed as a genius, then we should swallow everything thrown at us by him. Excuse me, we live here so we know what is good for us. Those who live here know that a roofless theatre is impractical. And since when is rebuilding a destroyed theatre is a "replica" and a "fake"! Go tell that to the Italians - of course they know all about fakes I suppose and nothing about art! We have been told to shut up because we are not architects and yet some people who obviously know nothing of architecture and even less of theatres try to convince us that the footprint would be too small for a modern theatre. Who is being clever now? What are these persons qualifications to lecture us on modern theatres? Piano's proposal is to create a crack in the bastions as an entrance- no one mentioned demolishing. It seems that people want to comment without having studied or even seen the model. I suggest you have a look to see how the crack in the wall will be created before commenting as it is obvious that only pictures were seen.
J Martinelli
Aug 21st 2009, 13:54
Yes Ms. German, let us summon Mr. Piano, tell him that we are dissatisfied with his plans and that he should retreat to his little office, do some more homework, and then come back with some new set of plans. Then, one would expect that there would be 100% consensus and the project will go ahead.
Mr. Piano gave reasons for his plans regarding the former Opera House being turned into a WWII monument cum open air theatre. A replica can never be regarded as the real thing, therefore there is no better word for it than a 'fake'. Secondly, the footprint is too small to meet modern demands of having a multifunctional theatre with enough seating capacity which would make it economically feasible.
To some comments below about City Gate being a breach in the bastions, may I ask, which parts of the bastions are being demolished in order to create the breach?
Most opinions are formed by having seen models supplied by Mr. Piano without visualizing how the final project will look like, without the least knowledge of architecture and with the perennial picture of the Old Opera House as the centre-piece.
Let's get on with it, now!
m attard
Aug 21st 2009, 13:25
To all those who keep on insisting on 'Bieb il-Belt' - this is just a colloquial term. It does not mean that there is actually a 'door'. There was always meant to be a gap in the bastions to show off their grandeur. So please stop whining as always..... and leave architectural work to the architects.
Adrian Borg Cardona
Aug 21st 2009, 11:22
It is undoubtedly a rushed job - and I don't think its the creation of jobs that is the reason for the hurry! Yesterday on the way out of Valletta I noticed a plaque outside City Gate reading "Bieb Il-Belt". Will this be eventually replaced with one reading "Il-Fetha tal-Belt" since there will not be a gate any more??
Galea. L
Aug 21st 2009, 10:50
Joseph Galea
Renzo Piano did not propose a good project for our capital city.
If the project gets through, and let's hope it doesn't because we will be paying for it, he will long be remembered as the architect who together with our own Gonzi ruined our capital city which project will be made again after some years as is happening now with teh city gate that was changed by a PN government in 1963.
Gonzi-Piano project?
Welcome to city gate without a gate with another breach in the wall for the lift running up on the outside of the fortifications, welcome to a roofless theatre, and welcome to a Parliament on stilts because some of our Parliamentarians are so big-headed that the old parliament is too small for them and also want to show the people that they are higher than the rest of us children of a lesser God.
Joseph Galea
Aug 21st 2009, 10:42
For Heaven's sake. Let's get on with the job! We have been thinking about this for 60 years. If we keep on like this it will be another 60 years of 'homework' without ever sitting for the exam.
Everybody and his uncle in Malta seems to be under some delusion that they are architects! A Maltese proverb says: "Il-hobz tieh lill-min jaf jieklu!" In this case it's Renzo Piano.
J Farrugia
Aug 21st 2009, 10:34
I disagree completely with all those who want a revision of the piano projects. Malta has paid far more to architects for plans than on any other project. Whatever model the government selects, there surely will be those against it and those for it. So let's stop all this haggling IF WE WANT TO SEE THIS BLOTH BUILT UP ONCE MORE. The Government is there to govern and decide. The Government has been debating this patch of our island for years now. About time a true decision be taken in the interest of our country. I surely dont agree with a parliament in the entrance of our capital city, but be that as it may, its neither here nor there. Let the show go on and let's start excavating this *** site for the best interests of our children. Forget all about barry or any other architect, let's have piano lead us on to the next century. Recently I had suggested to one and all to leave this site as it is, a MEMORIAL to our local ignorance and stupidity. I'm still in favour of this suggestion.