Now it’s those who are still calling it a cheese-grater who are looking increasingly out of the loop
Published:
January 15, 2014 at 3:14pm
As the plaudits come in for Renzo Piano’s Valletta project, it is those who are still calling it a cheese-grater and deriding it as wrong for the context who are now very much out of the loop.
I suppose part of the problem was that very many people – I am always surprised at this – lack visual imagination and can’t picture something until they actually see it in real life.
It’s astonishing just how much backtracking is going on on Facebook and other social media, with justifications like “I wasn’t against the project as such, just the way it was implemented” and “Now that I’ve seen it, I have to admit that Piano knows his stuff.”
Oh well.
The Cheese-Grater Brigade are dwindling in numbers.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140115/local/pianos-awesome-parliament-building.502759#.UtaXdvsueV4
Will they still be in favour of turning it into a mere backdrop for the open air market, though?
The Maltese were happy with council house as a backdrop.
The only problem I see with this is the location – I’m not particularly keen on having the houses of parliament at the entrance of a city. It goes without saying that the arguments of Valletta being a Baroque city, mismatch of styles are pure “ta’ wara l-muntanji” nonsense.
What I perceive as a flop is the converted opera house which, unlike what people have been saying (“80 miljun…are kemm gie jiswa’ “), needed a far bigger cash injection in order to make it fully functioning.
Well, according to the Malta Independent’s website, the converted opera house has been ‘functioning’ quite often.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-01-15/news/pjazza-teatru-rjal-used-21-times-in-6-months-3689283585/
No one ever said we couldn’t, even because what’s there still lacks the screens in the concept.
In due time.
‘Fully functioning’ would have meant a theatre on par with Manoel Theatre or with MCC, because the site is not large enough for a fully-fledged multi-purpose theatre. Why spend money on a facility which you already have?
‘Fully functioning’ on the opera house site would have therefore been a waste of money.
JAE, if it’s not fully functioning for whatever purpose it is designated, why waste money on it?
Nevertheless there is the beauty of the original design. The opera house could have been reconstructed as it was with added modern touches and functionalities (as in many conversion works by Jean Nouvel), then used for whatever it’s needed.
Problem is the opera house was gone, perhaps even for a dreamer like Nouvel. Are you sure he’d have reconstructed to reconvert?
Jozef, it’s for the clients to decide what they want: rebuild, construct sometime else, convert.
Many historical buildings have been partially, heavily or completely rebuilt (London would have hardly anything left had this not been the case) so it would have been perfectly acceptable to rebuild the opera house from Barry’s original plans even if subsequently it were to be used for a different activity (who knows…Wardakanta maybe?).
On the other hand, modernisation and progressive modification of buildings takes places regularly (see landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, the Louvre, Cologne Cathedral).
Mr. Fenech
Haven’t you ever been to the Louvre in Paris? A space age pyramid structure against the backdrop of a God knows, how old a building. It doesn’t hurt the eye at all, does it ? After all beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Pontius, yes, hundred of times (literally). I can probably paint the whole Louvre courts in blindfold.
I’m not sure you’ve understood what I’ve said.
I never agreed with the design of the project but then again I’m no architect. I have to admit that Valletta as a whole looks much better than before with the new paving, the cleaning of the facades of the auberges, the palace square makeover etc.
However, I suspect that the whole project was a very cunning plan to just get rid of the gate. It had too much mileage. For that I applaud them.
A gate befitting a gem like Valletta can be built further down the line once the political nature of the debate has died down. Before anyone tries, don’t talk to me about the gaping hole being an integral part of the visual effect.
I am a layman and all I want on my walled capital is a gate. I can see the open theatre working in theory, but in practice it will never be maintained — that is a staple of Maltese infrastructural improvements in that they are a one-time thing with no regular maintenance — and will eventually start looking shabby.
As for the parliament, the palace served its purpose. Quite frankly those politicians don’t deserve a new parliament. They already have their villas. How many of them buy them on their meagre wages is a mystery to us all.
[Daphne – ‘Our politicians don’t deserve a new parliament. They already have their villas.’ Parliament is not for the politicians, but for the people. It is the forum of deliberation for the representatives of the people: i.e. the individuals who people elect to represent them.]
It is a pity not many of them act that way.
On the contrary, it was built with strategy, plan and progress in mind.
The project is now taking shape and one can immediately feel that the new layout immediately takes one to the places that connects us to our heritage. Something which was unheard of before.
If you mention Valletta to people, all they tell you is: ‘Eh ili ma nidhol nixtri minn hemm.’ Rather than – I go to Valletta because I can enjoy the gardens, the sites, I love being there because its very accessible to people.
Renzo Piano made it happen and trusting this world-renowned Architect with our Valletta’s entrance was, in my opinion, one of the best decisions ever.
“I am a layman and all I want on my walled capital is a gate. I can see the open theatre working in theory, but in practice it will never be maintained.”
The gate would separate you from the baroque city feeling and would distance you from the various forms of architectural structures and from the historical point of view.
The gate we had before never interested me and Valletta was what it is to many people: just another shopping area. This happened obviously because the focus was shops shops and more shops from the instance one enters Valletta – there were shops to the left side, the right side and the centre, do you remember the market when it used to be there in the parking area?
Have confidence in the new project. The entrance to Valletta has taken the shape it so desperately needed. The project may have created uncertainties but this is a natural process because people were foreseeing the project in its early stages, i.e. when it was still cranes, scaffolding and barrier walls.
Well this is a good reply to our Maltese experts.
You just have to see that thing as the sun sets behind the Phoenicia, the facets range from burnt orange to a cool purple.
There they were, insisting a metal spaceframe doesn’t fit a baroque city as Piano was being criticised abroad for being over-indulgent in expression and interface.
I challenge Muscat to take up Piano’s design outside the walls, otherwise he’ll be the one who didn’t have the courage to take it to excess.
Referring to the building as ‘the cheese grater’ does not necessarily indicate derision. Plenty of people refer to ‘the gherkin’ without implying any criticism of the architecture.
You are right, the Brits have this habit of attributing nicknames to landmarks – it’s all tongue-in-cheek. In Malta though it is very derogatory, spiteful and destructive, and a clear sign of Philistinism.
It’s not just the Brits, Ponti’s Pirelli tower soon became the Pirellone. (He went on to design a lamp five years later with the same lines calling it Pirellone)
I bet Piano can design a cheese grater.
Jozef, I didn’t say ‘just the Brits’ but ‘The Gherkin’ was mentioned. Nicknames of buildings are found everyone, but in Malta they are used in the ways I’ve already described.
http://www.complex.com/art-design/2014/01/architecture-new-buildings-2014/valletta-city-gate-and-parliament
The name cheese-grater was originally used as a pathetic attempt at derision but it could well stick to become a term of fondness, a measure of the popularity of this building.
All modern iconic buildings have nicknames, often silly ones: The Gherkin, The Shard and The Pinnacle come to mind but there are countless others. Problem is that there is already another London building called Cheese-grater so we need the Piano-bashers to please come up with something more original.
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/london/leadenhall_street_rshp230609_1.jpg
Incidentally, all the “awesome” buildings in the list of the Complex Art+Design website are huge and mostly skyscrapers. Except the one in Malta. Working on a smallish structure within stringent site-constraints, Piano has still managed to come up with a masterpiece that makes us proud.
In the world of architecture this building is as prestigious as the Caravaggio is in the world of art.
Actually there is a tall building in London with the nickname “Cheesegrater,” (just Google it.) Even in a nickname we can’t be original.
The building itself looks nice but it does not fit in our city. Would have looked great in Ta’ Qali.
That is where you are wrong. It fits perfectly in our city, embellishing in a way that is vibrant and exciting
Don’t you realise that the area was bombed in WWII? How can a reputable architect in the 21st century build a replica of the 17th and 19th century.
Don’t you realise that the old opera house whi8ch the cheese-graters applaud was a theatre for the English expats in Malta and a few Maltese gentry. 98% of our Maltese ancestors would have not been allowed to enter.
Making it open air, Piano is applauding the building as for ‘all’ without distinction. So subtle is his art.
What we have now is a 21st century majestic work of art, totally in context with Valletta’s baroque architectural mass, linearity, texture and tones. A closed theatre for parliament & decision making next to an open theatre for the people & it’s entertainment being part of its total iconography. Simple 21st century genius.
It’s the previous building which would have been ideal in Ta’ Qali. Come to think of it, perfect for the pitkali veg vendors or a farmers market.
To see the beauty of this building, one only needs to open his/her eyes to the future.
The Royal Opera House designed by an architect who never even came to Malta to see the site or its environment, was in the Neo-Classical style and a complete contrast with Baroque Valletta.
There was never a serious consideration of rebuilding it as it was and we should be grateful that the Zavellani-Rossi concept chosen in 1953 was never adopted; in fact it covered the area of both the old opera house and the present parliament site with one big featureless mass with a dome on top.
At Ta’ Qali, Piano would have designed something altogether different.
Anyone with a modicum of knowledge about architectural design would know that context is critical; and Piano is a master at designing buildings that respond superbly to their context – be it physical or cultural.
Rest assured that the building Piano would have designed for a featureless area like Ta’Qali, would have been as different from the City Gate project as day is to night. To all the naysayers to this wonderful project I would say to wait a while. Like the Tour Eiffel, the Centre Pompidou (incidentally also by Piano (and Rogers)) and IM Pei’s Louvre pyramid – all projects that, in their time, were soundly criticised and derided by the self-appointed arbiters of taste and art – it will become an icon of the city for which it has been masterfully designed.
Then you haven’t seen it properly. How many have noticed that the previous balconies that belong to the people who live in those government flats have been replaced with the traditional Gallarija? I happened to be there, on site, when they were being replaced.
I went days after when works were completed just to see how they looked. The people got a free gallarija but this aside, the balconies alone compared to the ugly stone structure they had before, are already enough to restore the traditional factor in the city which must have been a major concern to the Architect in question.
Basically, I think the new structure will be a mixture of the old, the traditional with the new.
He pleased everybody. I don’t see why people should sweat about the small stuff.
I really like the open theatre. I love the implied warning to the politicians who will be using our Parliament………… “Get your act together …… when your efforts at international negotiation fail ruins such as these are the result” Priceless!
Let us not forget that the Cheese-Grater Brigade are the same people who elected Mr. Hindsight as prime minister of Malta.
Plenty of ‘hind’…not too much ‘sight’ though.
Reading through my post again I see one might get the impression I am being sarcastic …… not the case at all.
Just to be clear …. the ruins I am referring to are those of the old opera house.
It’s never too late to learn I suppose…
I am sure Renzo Piano is relieved that the words coming from Malta are that “he knows his stuff”.
As if he ever cared a hoot about what we thought in the first place.
A bunch of peasant fishermen, illiterate in the main, living on a semi-submerged sliver of rock which is a freak of petrology.
Popolo di merda.
Actually I think Piano does care. He went to great lengths to listen to everybody who had anything to say, no matter how inane.
He also readily discussed his ideas with anyone who was willing to engage in dialogue.
He even met Joseph Muscat soon after he became PM, but we never hear anything about what was discussed. Maybe Muscat was that impressed.
‘..After a series of supply delays from a nearby stone quarry, the City Gate and Parliament project for the bohemian city of Valletta in Malta was delayed until sometime at the end of next year. The complex design of the façade, helmed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, is said to also be partly to blame for the delays. But, as you can see from these renderings, the wait will be well worth the immaculate construction. The building has touches of old world design while simultaneously featuring elements that could be of no other time but the present. Both opulent and refined, the building is set to be functional by quarter two of 2014.’
http://www.complex.com/art-design/2014/01/architecture-new-buildings-2014/#./valletta-city-gate-and-parliament?&_suid=1389804072640021323482025746088
The Project by Renzo Piano is pure genius.
This architect studied Valletta so well in such a short span of time that I find it incredible that this man knows more about the history of Valletta and Valletta in modern times more than the Maltese population does.
The project focuses on the entrance, the side entrances and the main street – Republic Street.
One side leads to Hastings Gardens – one beautiful site that lets you enjoy one of the most beautiful gardens in Valletta – the opposite side takes you up to Castille – the Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens, these make one enjoy the breathtaking views from there.
This is basically what one should enjoy before going down Republic street – Republic street has its sweet touches but in a small capital city such as Malta’s Valletta, the first and most important factor that was considered by this genius is that breath of fresh air that the side entrances generate and thanks to Piano and his project, this was made possible. They are for us to enjoy, before they were not.
Cities are not only about shopping, the shops and the bags which we were so much in our face, with that previous structure. It’s about art, architecture and national heritage – all of which are part of Valletta and so part of us, our culture, our being – for us to enjoy. We weren’t enjoying anything of this before.
Thank you Renzo Piano, you make me proud to be Maltese.
Yes, Piano restored the entrance, whatever detractors stuck in literal decriptive postcards say.
All he did was to adapt content to the functions required of the space. It took his courage to conceive and propose this.
So the old gate had steps both sides confining it to a defensive alleyway, Piano rotated these 90 degrees to lead the observer along three new routes.
Which is why the market cannot invade the main central artery.
Mr Fenech – not particularly keen on having the Houses of Parliament at the entrance of a city? Where else should Parliament House be, in the red light district of a city?
Perhaps you should learn that Parliament is the highest institution of a country and NOT the office of the prime minister. To date it’s been Auberge de Castille as the most important building in Valletta (perhaps, still is) and only dictators occupy such premises.
As for the ex opera house, evidently you are not some culture vulture, and have not attended open air productions on balmy summer months.
Name any old or modern parliament houses that are at the entrance of a walled or semi-walled city? As things stand, they are a bit too much in the face .
Valletta was built as a fort, not as a place of accommodation, commerce and entertainment. By your reasoning, we should pull down any building put up after Valletta was first built, ban commerce, and seek entertainment elsewhere.
This project is set to become an icon defining Valletta further. As much as Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John and Mattia Preti’s masterpieces at Valletta’s St. John’s co-Cathedral are today. Or even Sydney’s Opera House, to give another idea.
It will be known as Piano’s masterpiece by everyone worldwide and not just by those in the know. Dr Gonzi will be applauded in the future for his foresight. The cheese graters by then will be long forgotten.
And hopefully by then we will be studying anthropologically their effect on Maltese culture and thought. Always if these Labour octogenarians aren’t still alive and clinging on to power.
Valletta was craving a modern building (and not those ghastly council houses and arcades).
Two of them will definitely stick to this cheese-grater/pallazzos brigade though.
Once this generation of racanc eventually dies out it will be seen as the architectural gem that it really is.
But it’s still up to us to tell the next generation what a gem it is in the first place. Quite a lot of work to do then!
It’s a good thing Renzo Piano took no notice of the changes Joseph Muscat wanted to implement to the new Parliament.Now everybody wants to impress that they always believed in the excellence of the project.
Kitten from Malta must be lost for words
Not forgetting the Labour Government’s christmas present to the Labour Party the real ‘teatru bla saqaf’
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131115/local/pl-denies-sant-government-had-waived.494812#.UtcGKrRUU9o
GonziPN gave us this “awesome building” in Valletta. Josephmuscat.com will give us another Paceville.
Just because foreigners say it is AWESOME we must believe them, (colonial mentality) the building on its own may be original but in the context of Valletta and its situation it is horendous. No doubt about it.
Let us not delude ourselves.
Who told you it’s horrendous?
Ms. Farrugia. You may have missed something. It is not only foreigners who think that this project is ‘awesome’ (to use your word. Many Maltese do so too – and, what is more important, it is generally that sector of Maltese society who has had some architectural training, who think so.
Stop this ‘colonial mentality’ chit-chat Ms Farrugia. You don’t happen to think, by any chance, that resistance to the sale of the Maltese passport by all EU political groupings and Birdlife’s unstinting effort to civilize the country fall in the same category?
It could just happen that these ‘foreigners’ know a thing or two about architecture.
The problem is not so much with the project of a world renowned architect, but with an island bursting with big headed, self-claimed intellectuals who have never contributed anything worth mentioning in the field of art, design and architecture while believing they have the credentials of a professional critic.