■ The photomontage of the Townsquare tower (August 16) gives me the feeling that the effect of distance on perspective may have been somewhat overestimated. As a result, the Tower appears in this montage to be lower than it would actually look like in real life. Admittedly, photomontages may be subject to arbitrary decisions by the artist, although this should have been avoided in this case.

To understand the impact of this tower on the locality and its residents one can only compare the projected Townsquare tower with Portomaso tower, which is the next highest building in Malta. Portomaso tower has 23 floors while the projected Townsquare skyscraper would have 38 floors, which means that, roughly speaking, it would be about 65 per cent higher.

Thus, if in the same montage the artist were to include Portomaso tower (for comparison only) so that the two towers are adjacent to each other, on the same plane and from the same viewpoint, the result would be that Portomaso tower would look unrealistically dwarfed  in relation to the skyline and buildings below it.

If, on the other hand, the perspective of Portomaso tower in the same photomontage is corrected to reflect a more probable scenario, the Townsquare tower would have to be shown much  higher in the new photomontage.

My eye may be deceiving me or my impressions faulty. On the other hand, the montage may have been created to fit a purpose.

Sliema residents ought to be better respected.

Because of the height of the Sliema tower, this controversy is bound to drag on. I will not be surprised if some deus ex machina will eventually descend from some high place playing the hero and resolves  the matter by reducing the height from 38 to 23 floors, which, after all, was the height originally applied for by the developers. We are used to such ploys now. Remember Żonqor?