Editorial

When the world-renowned architect, Renzo Piano, who has been commissioned to re-design the entrance to Valletta, spoke about the undertaking, he said it was "a public project about civic pride and civic sense". While he was right to describe it as about civic pride, it is actually much more than that. It is a matter of national pride. That is why it needs to be handled with the utmost care and avoid the mistakes committed in the St John's Co-Cathedral museum saga.

For almost seven decades, successive governments have betrayed the people over Valletta and none more so than in their treatment of the entrance to this World Heritage city. The old Royal Opera House ruins were the result of an act of war. The City Gate was a self-inflicted wound, committed by a misguided Administration.

Mr Piano's brief includes the City Gate, the bridge, the ditch and the old opera house site. His instructions for the latter are to turn the ruins into a multi-purpose building that would host Parliament and also perform a cultural role. Mr Piano appears to go along with this, saying that having Parliament in Freedom Square performed a public function and "made sense". The Prime Minister, an astute politician and conscious of the fierce and influential opposition to this idea of building a Parliament House there, appeared more circumspect when he said that the use of the building had yet to be decided.

Whatever the final outcome, one can immediately take heart from a number of factors.

First, the government has at last grasped the nettle (again), this time with greater apparent determination than before and with the necessary funding earmarked for the project, subject always to the vagaries of the global economic downturn and how severely they affect Malta.

Second, a leading architect of world stature has been engaged (again) to design and complete it.

And third, a deadline of four years has been set for its completion, with Mr Piano's design scheme being submitted by April.

All of this is to the good. The crux of the issue, however, will be the quality and attractiveness of Mr Piano's design. He has said that "modern is the way to go but it does not mean you have to be aggressive". Mr Piano is a modern architect with an adventurous eye for striking design. His partnership with Richard Rogers in the design of the Pompidou Centre in Paris is perhaps one of his most famous (and controversial) undertakings. Time magazine has described him as "an absolute master of light and lightness. He has a fantastic understanding of construction and the scale of pieces... his structures are very elegant, very humanistic".

When he presents his designs in April one should be prepared for two things.

First, one should expect a design that is exciting, vigorous, unusual and unique but which is also functional, elegant, authentic and to scale. "Tradition" is not a word with which Mr Piano is happy.

Secondly, his judgment needs to be accepted. Of course, everyone has one's own subjective ideas but his expertise, experience and talent demand respect.

The reinvigoration of Valletta evidently features high on the government's agenda. Whether that is because it has realised the capital has been neglected for far too long or because it wants to generate work at a time of stagnation or for both reasons, what matters is that the rhythm now continues unabated.