During the past few months I have been following with trepidation the construction of a large building just behind one of Gozo’s most iconic and most photographed locations – the Gothic Revival church of Our Lady of Lourdes overlooking Mġarr Harbour. It is one of the masterpieces of Malta’s greatest 19th century architect, Emmanuele Luigi Galizia (1830-1906).

This is Gozo’s most artistically important Romantic building and one of the most picturesque sites on the island.

Galizia, in fact, had projected his little church as solitary, alone with nature, perched on the promontory, as a haven of spirituality and meditation, in line with 19th century Romantic thought and theory.

The uniqueness and artistic interest of this masterpiece does not rest only with its intrinsic merits but also on its immediate context and surroundings. Therefore, it is not only the monument itself that one has to preserve, but also its environs.

Aesthetic and architectural sensitivity in urban planning necessitates the conservation and preservation of the precincts in which the work of architecture exists.

The building under construction (which, I am informed, will become a home for the elderly) is fallacious for various reasons.

Firstly, it completely disregards Galizia’s building. since it offends its integrity and uniqueness.

Secondly, its imitation of Gothic Revival forms is false and deceitful: the building tries to imitate as late as 2012 – a style that has been dead for decades, and tries to give the impression that it is an extension of an older building.

Thirdly, it is also pretentious. A third floor resembling a tower (still under construction) has pierced the skyline just behind Galizia’s elegant steeple, with the result that it has not only destroyed the solitary majesty and dominance of the church’s tower but is now vying for attention with it. Galizia would have certainly been enraged to see his vision ruined in so terrible and mediocre a manner.

The whole project reeks of aesthetic insensitivity and artistic mediocrity. The pivotal principle that all art and architecture should reflect their times seems to be still unknown to people involved in design and urban planning in Malta, and it is evident that the Renzo Piano City Gate project has not taught the lessons it was supposed to teach.

Unfortunately, the insistence on Gozo’s ecological dimension is, many times, eclipsing its equally important cultural and artistic aspects. Many seem to forget that Gozo has much to offer on that level as well.