Renzo Piano’s project (1986)
for the demolition of the gate and the construction of a light weight
bridge remained on the drawing board. Are the new plans going to
suffer the same ill fate this time round?
The architect Renzo Piano the son of a builder unveils his plans for Valletta (the city biuld by gentlemen for gentlemen) and its catchment area. The unusual thing about Piano, is that he is an elegant architect and have an artistic eye on the effect of light of how. He is fanatic about sailing and he designs his own sailing boats. The new designs of Renzo Piano should not only take into consideration the construction and scale of pieces as they exist today, but also to put back to life the history that encompass the Main City Gate and the ruins of the Royal Opera House.
Renzo Piano’s plans for the:
1. Capital CityGate and bridge is to replace the existing deplorable CityGate with two massive limestone blocks that would allow the visibility of the inner side of the city. The construction is simple and therefore it lacks any architectural detail. The new look of the entrance does not express the richness of the highly decorative baroque prominance of the city palaces. In simple terms it aims at demolishing the existing horrendous gate and leave the gap open, maybe in the future we may have another project that would enhances our capital city in no uncertain way. On the other hand the mythical architect could have intentionally followed the steps of Gerolamo Cassar whoes building style of the facade of St.John's Co-cathedral shows hardly any decoration in contrast with its interior. As for the bridge, Mr Piano preferred to recall back to the original dimensions of Dingli’s gate of 1633.
2. It is said that to have a theatre to suite current exigencies, the present footprint has to be increased considerably. However, the architect did not have at his disposal more area and therefore he intuitively decided to leave the ruins of the Opera House as a memorabilia. It is to the opinion of the architect that the ruins of
the demolished Opera have reached the status of a monument and are
therefore going to be preserved in an open piazza.
The controversy that the open theatre cannot be utilised on the clock is highly debated and given its due credit. However, will the authorities listen to this outcry, is the question raised by enthusiast and professionals who are not interested in having an icon theatre but want an operational theatre that would resemble the need of the local artists.
3. According to the plans, the new parliament will be located inside Freedom Square, and it will host an interactive Museum of Maltese History and Political Development. The biulding complies with the architecture's designs elsewhere and therefore introduces another new biulding style that have to live with the baroque and mixture of several stylistic elements reminiscent of Venetian palaces, such as the panelled pilasters, the channelled columns and the round-headed double-light windows of the Francia Palace as well as the typical Maltese style wooden balconies.
It is being promised that Renzo Piano projects would give the capital back its dignity, encourage more tourists to visit, increase commercial activity and create new jobs.
On the hind side, the Prime Minister who is in the fore front of this project is being politically critised that he choosed to make an ego-trip out of the project for himself and his party, as the project will be inaugurated during next election campain.
It is being claimed that Non Governmental organisations and the public opinions were not heard and given their due weighting by the authorities.
Although the project, now has the blessing and approval of Mepa board, it is still unclear whether this project impacts negatively on the environmnet. Similar projects of this magnitude should include a traffic and environmental assessment impact report that would scientifically gauges the impact on the environment.
It looks also that the general public opinion is against having a roofless theatre and in favour that the capital and the people of this nation deserves a proper theatre and that would meet the exigencies of the nation.
Valletta City Gate
This main city gate was originally dedicated to St. George. It later became known as Porta Reale and was later changed again to Kingsgate. The bust of Pope Paul V was placed on the City Gate on July 24 1892, in gratitude for his generous contribution and commitment. This bust has since been restored, and is now kept inside the local council offices in South Street whilst a replica can be found in Great Siege Square.
To finance the building of Valletta, the Order of St.John had to pay around one thousand five hundred scuds for each day of the operation. In view of the financial burden and lack of cash, the Treasury issued tokens that were later exchanged to money when Pope St Pius Paul V made a generous contribution of 35 thousand scuds to the Order of St.John in 1566. Moreover, the Pope sent his approval to the Order so that workers could proceed with their services on Sundays and Feast days.
Looking towards the city you will see the main gate which leads to the grid-like pattern of Valletta’s streets. During the French rule the name of this street was changed to Porte National. It was later changed to Kingsway, but nowadays it is known as Republic Street.
City Square is the first square you encounter when entering the city through the main gate. Around it’s sides you will find various shops, some of which are sheltered by the arcades surrounding the square. The square provides ample space and is used for many national festivals, amongst them the Carnival that is officially opened with the Parata, an ancient sword dance commemorating Malta's victory over the Turks in 1565.
Valletta Royal Opera House
About 85% of Valletta’s buildings were destroyed or damaged during the Second World War. The ruin of the Royal Opera House is a permanent reminder of the destruction that German and Italian bombs caused to the city. The pompous Opera House was bombed down in 1942. Several times it was considered to either rebuild it in its original design or to construct a completely new building. However, up to now, the ruin is used as a car park and serves old men as a place for a chat, tourists as a place to rest, and cats and lizards love it for sunbathing.
The Royal Opera House was built in 1866 and designed by Edward Middleton Barry, the architect who designed the famous Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London. The Neo-Classicist building consisted of a colonnaded façade and a high podium, which was the architect’s solution for the uneven site. The Opera House had a seating capacity of 1,000.. The opulent building was criticized by many people because of its sheer size and surfeit of decorative elements, which – compared to the rather astylar architecture elsewhere in Valletta – made the building seem completely out of place.
The interior of the Opera House burnt down only seven years after it was built, but it was immediately refurbished. The last venue held in this theatre before the fire was held in commemoration of the 54th birthday of Queen Victoria. Only a few days later, on 25th May 1873 the theatre burst into flames during the rehearsals of the opera “La Vergine del Castello“. Precautional measures were taken to control the flames as it was feared that the fire might spread and reach the nearby St James Bastion which was then fully stocked with ammunition. Two employees of the Opera House were later found guilty that due to their negligence the theatre had caught fire.
However, other rumours told a totally different version, namely that the fire was deliberately started by an Italian tenor. This was because the Maestro Privitera refused to book the singer. As an act of revenge, he hid himself in the Theatre and set it alight. The same night he fled from Malta.
On the declaration of the 2nd World War the Theatre closed down. On the 7th April of 1942 at about 6.30 p.m, a bomb landed on the Royal Opera House and destroyed it completely.
So Mr.Piano is back.... Lets
hope he will give us a nice, holistic and an attractive plan of the valletta gate
which integrates with the city. Architects of that calibre, have put
cities on the map, transforming them into tourist attractions with
their iconic constructions.
To
comprehend better the lifestyle and cultural beuty of the
