The Chamber of Architects on Monday called on the Speaker of the House to remove the metal barriers that have circled the parliament building in Valletta for more than four years.
"Renzo Piano’s parliament building and the surrounding urban space were designed to promote transparency of the democratic processes. The permanently installed barriers erected around this building completely reverse the design intent of the architect, and instead place a physical separation between the electors and the elected, a gap which the design sought to eradicate," Kamra tal-Periti said in a statement.
The barriers were erected during a period of political unrest in December 2019 as revelations linked to the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia sparked nationwide protests.
But four years on, the Speaker of the House told Times of Malta he was still “exploring” alternative designs.
Marking World Architecture Day on Monday, which is this year themed 'Empowering the next generation to participate in urban design', the KTP called on people - especially policymakers - to reflect on the state of architecture in Malta.
In a statement, it said it had always been vociferous about the importance of promoting high-quality architecture to ensure a better quality of life for all.
Among others, it recently published a proposal for an urban park in the heart of Msida to demonstrate to the public this was indeed possible, and to challenge public authorities on an outdated vision for our islands, KTP added.
"However, if there is one intervention in Malta's public space that symbolically embodies the disregard, verging on contempt, with which architecture and the work of architects is generally held, it is the blight around Freedom Square upon which the parliament building designed by Renzo Piano stands.
"The fact that such ignominy is carried out at the behest of the highest democratic institution in the country just underscores the dire state of architecture and the long road towards achieving the cultural sensibilities and basic educational standards necessary to truly begin to understand and address the issues surrounding quality of public space and general wellbeing."
The architects noted that the irony of the barrier situation was further compounded by the fact that the institution entrusted by the constitution to enact the laws of the land, was "brazenly breaching several provisions of the same laws its members have passed inside that very building".
They called on all responsible public institutions - starting from the Speaker of the House, and including the Planning Authority, Lands Authority, and Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation - to uphold their obligations in the law and return Freedom Square to the public to whom they ultimately should hold their allegiance.