The other morning I made it a must to go to the Museum of Archaeology to view first hand that which the famous architect Renzo Piano is proposing for our beloved City of Valletta.
I wanted to go as soon as possible in order to be in a position to personally weigh the numerous contributions which will inevitably be made in the coming days and weeks.
From the onset I would like to state that I do not consider myself to be in any way artistic or knowledgeable when it comes to architecture modern or otherwise, notwithstanding, as a Maltese citizen who frequents our city on a daily basis, I feel I do not only have the right but feel obliged to air my views on the subject.
The two main problems which have always troubled me, and most probably the majority of the Maltese, were City Gate itself and the Royal Opera House ruins.
A solution to these two has been the talk of the town for over 60 years and now it seems Sig. Piano has come up with one.
Easy. City Gate? Do away with it all together. See the problem does not exist anymore. First problem solved.
Royal Opera House ruins? That's easy too. See where the rest of the ruins are and bring them on site for everyone to see and admire. Second problem solved.
The only difference between that which will remain for Sig. Piano and me is only the fact that Sig. Piano will leave Malta while watching his bank balance grow and I (together with all the Maltese citizens) have to live with the (non) solutions this genius of an architect has so masterfully brought to Valletta.
Unfortunately, for me, my dissatisfaction with the whole project does not end there.
Sig. Piano's project also proposes, amongst other changes, the narrowing of the entrance into Valletta to a width of approximately eight metres (no one seems to know the exact width).
I don't know if Sig. Piano has ever been to Valletta during the day on weekdays. The bridge at present in existence caters for thousands of commuters going in and out of Valletta.
I can assure him that an eight-metre walkway will not suffice; it will only render the passage of those who wish to enter a magnificent city very unpleasant and a feeling of congestion, even before they actually set foot inside.
This not to mention the other fact that doing away with the "City Gate" will rob our City of another entrance which today exists from on top of the present gate.
It is true that the Parliament building and other ancillary offices will at last free the President's Palace from housing the Parliament Chamber, thus restoring it fully to serve only as the formal office of the President, albeit it will also screen St James' Cavalier.
A feature which, in my opinion, not even Sig. Piano in all his brilliance can recreate.
I will not resort, as others have done, to calling Sig. Renzo Piano's work as "a hodgepodge of tents, greenhouses and scaffolding" but only pray that we Maltese and more so the Maltese government once and for all shed this inferiority complex and have the self belief that our architects are better suited to understand that which our Belt Valletta really deserves.