I was deeply offended by the letter 'Piano's City Gate project' by Mario Buhagiar (December 7). He lauds the government for reactivating Renzo Piano's City Gate project and encourages him to forge ahead without giving any vent to possible dissent from the ignorant pundits.

In a nutshell, he concludes that anyone objecting to the project in the past was ignorant and had no real knowledge of the arts as he does. Such reasoning is insensible and very unbecoming of a university professor entrusted with the shaping up of our future art historians.

As one of the thousands of objectors to the project in the late 1980s, I feel that a full-blown apology is due from the professor. He is entitled to his opinion but has no right to deprive others from enjoying the same.

The new project should be a case of marrying the old with the new in full respect to the special architectural nature of Valletta. This can be achieved by following the excellent example of the newly-reconstructed Reichstag in Berlin. The German government ensured that the original building of Paul Wallot completed in 1894 was retained, restored and reconstructed in parts, whereas the interior which dated from the 1960s - a conversion by a post-war German architect was gutted to allow for the brilliant hi-tech conversion by the English designer and architect Norman Foster. The success of this arrangement can be gauged from the multitude of visitors.

This model can easily be employed successfully in the new City Gate Project. The old gate should be torn down and replaced by a new structure that does justice to a walled city. The original width of Republic Street is restored to what it was before the formation of the present Freedom Square by having the open space of the square built upon. The ugly apartment block and commercial centre should also be replaced possibly with a high tech building that respects the heights and particular nature of Valletta.

The Royal Opera House should have its present remains restored with the missing parts reconstructed according to Edward Middleton-Barry's design to form an outer shell on the Reichstag concept with the interior and roof built in a high tech manner.

The Royal Opera House building represents an important milestone in the architectural evolution of Valletta - being the first eclectic public monumental building which eventual caused the remodelling of a good part of its surroundings. Full records of this building exist in duplicate and triplicate which can easily be used for its faithful rebuilding.

With regard to the uses, I fully concur that Parliament is to move from its present premises and it can be easily accommodated in a new purposely-built house either in place of Freedom Square or the reconstructed commercial block across the road.

With regards to the Opera House I feel that this building will be designed as a purposely-designed State Opera House which is sorely lacking in Malta. All other existing venues are inadequate for large-scale performances as clearly stated by our opera star Joseph Calleja. The presence of the State Opera House by the House of Representatives will only add to the improvement of what is currently a squalid area.