Letters | Sunday, 19 July 2009

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Excellent Opera House, shame about the parliament

I’ve had the same idea for the Opera House site, as Piano’s; long before former Minister Francis Zammit Dimech proposed to embellish the ruins area, instead of trying to copy the inimitable, constructing a similar building, would have resulted in a lifeless, soulless edifice. Piano’s idea to accentuate the old Opera House’s glory, by adding modern structures, would be in my humble opinion, the appropriate manner to revive the theatre’s glory.
Regarding the capital’s entrance, I totally agree that the present structure has to be rightfully demolished. It would be useless to construct another gateway, that would have served its purpose 400 years ago. It is being rebuilt at the twilight of the third millennium, and this, it should reflect. Well done Piano. I simply adore both plans.
As for the House of Parliament, I honestly think it’s offensive, in times of recession, that politicians should even consider having a brand new ‘talk shop’. The government should concentrate on keeping its pre-election promises rather than shading over its so called “necessary correctional measures”. Admittedly it’s a worldwide crises, but surely our government has its fair share in the majority of the local problems. What’s wrong with the present House of Parliament? It longs for renovation, that I agree; but building it from scratch, not to mention the inadequate site chosen, and in such difficult times, seems a bit too inconsiderate to me.
Surely Piano, as an Italian, had far better ideas for our capital’s entrance piazza. It doesn’t make any sense to finance the most renowned architect in the world and unleash his genius, by demanding a needless building in the most prominent site in Valletta. Piano’s genius will be guaranteed if only his artistic capacities are set free. I would prefer that the capital’s visitors are welcomed by a majestic La Vallette monument instead of a suffocating structure that would even obstruct the new open air theatre.
It’s the least we can do in honour of the 16th century Grandmaster, whose perseverance and his successors’ persistence, succeeded, in just four years and nine months, in glorifying our island with a rightful capital city; while a 20th century government, with the aid of the highest level of construction machinery, spent 17 years building a hospital, which in other countries would have taken six!
Now tell me: who deserves the highest recognition? La Vallette or our current politicians? We’ve spent 60 years arguing about the Opera House’s regeneration, let’s not lose more time.
But on the House of Parliament, andiamoci Piano!

Julian Micallef

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