UPDATED WITH PODCAST/Read this BBC News Magazine piece – it’s wertit
Published:
November 19, 2014 at 9:28am
They’ve interviewed Lawrence Gonzi, not Joseph Muscat – properly acknowledging that it was under his watch that all of that happened.
And the Renzo Piano project looks great in those pictures.
UPDATE/There’s now a Youtube link to the podcast, below.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29914220
A project that truly fills one with positive energy.
But for the Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat – who incidentally the BBC ignored totally for its service – it is a “kapricc.”
Wonderful merging of the old with the modern and the utilitarian.
Where are those short-sighted bigoted idiots who opposed the project with their hearts and souls.
Not only do we have a project to be proud of but we also get international media coverage thanks to (what was it they called it?) the pigeon loft.
Saw one of them last week, wearing a proper tie instead of a bow tie. Strange, I thought.
And now they have all forgotten about the missing roof at the theatre and the noisy fireworks stopping performances whilst enjoying the various performances held there.
I went to Valletta last night for dinner with some clients. I parked in front of the Phoenicia Hotel, and walked to City Gate.
Consider that I have not been to Valletta for a good number of months, maybe even more than a year – so I have not seen this project through different phases. This is my assessment.
1) The bridge and City Gate are absolutely stunning. I have never felt so patriotic about anything. That gate is more than magnificent. The staircases on the left and right as you walk in are out of this world.
2) The Parliament House will never be to everyone’s taste, but I think it’s a job extremely well done. Remove the scaffolding and building materials, and it might look a bit different. But based on what I saw, it is just so nice. The mix of modern architecture and traditional material creates a building which creates an illusion of transition from old to new. Yet it blends into the surroundings.
3) I’m not too keen on the open theatre. I might have to see it in daylight. But it does look a bit incomplete. Maybe I can’t see beyond the stones and ruins.
Sum total is that I have never felt so proud of MY capital city as I did last night. And the reactions from the people I was with were mixed. Some loved it, some hated it. Good.
I think there are many people around who share my exact opinion on this project, but are too blinded by politics to express themselves freely. Let’s call them “closeted”.
And if I can see the artistic side of this project – the new meets old, primarily – and Kitten from Malta can only see a cheese-grater, then I really give up.
It’s OK for him to have orgasms on Twitter about some mezzo-soprano. He’s been a closeted homosexual most of his life (okay, let’s not judge in that case), and we find out that he was also a closeted Mintoffian all along as well. I wonder what he thinks of himself looking back on how many years he has wasted being closeted.
The theatre IS incomplete, probably due to this government trying to save a few pennies. The sides should have been enclosed (see below).
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2010/03/nice-one-maltastar-ja-qabda-kretini-bla-skola/
Dear Ms Caruana Galizia,
Last Sunday night in a typically cold war Russia or Communist Chinese approach, which seems very fashionable during the current legislature, the PBS staged the following news item:
http://www.tvm.com.mt/news/xoghol-24-siegha-kuljum-biex-il-progett-fhal-lija-jitlesta-minghajr-dewmien/
In the past two weeks we have been repeatedly informed by Transport Malta that works will be going on 24 hours a day.
I have since then passed through this junction twice at 10pm, including Sunday night, and never once have I seen a single person at work, or any machinery in movement. Since our esteemed journalists at the Times of Malta cannot be tasked with doing this job, could I kindly ask you to bring this to attention in your very informative blog.
Maybe eventually someone from NET TV will bother to take a camera over and snap some photos to remind people of the reality we are living.
Many thanks and best regards
EF, I’m afraid if it’s after hours NET TV (yes, the TV station which is meant to keep this government on its toes), might not have people available: you know, it’s a 9 to 5 job in the media world.
They found all names to belittle this project. They also harped that we have our architects so we do not need Piano. They considered Piano a waste of money.
But now rest assured that when they manage to finish it up we will have all the pomp and circumstance by the great leader. And be sure that the leader’s name will appear bigger than Piano’s on the commemorative plaque.
Cheese grater, my foot. It is majestic!
But will the pseudo-cultural buffs who before the general elections cracked jokes about the building, presumably to show how intellectual they are, admit that the final result is awe-inspiring?
Of course not, it would be too much humble pie to digest. However, truly magnificent it most certainly is.
http://www.domusweb.it/it/notizie/2014/10/02/valletta_city_gate.html
The architectural and design magazine.
Why is it that the best photo of the new City Gate should be taken by a foriegn journalist and published by foriegn media?
Fantastic project, but a modern parliament at the entrance of a city is very unethical.
Pray, why is it so? The parliament is a new building and this was the only place where a lacunae existed in the city. All the other lots have been taken up.
Din min fejn gibtha? Unethical? Din min belaghhielek?
you can listen to the BBC Radio podcast :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RToaGaEhfg0
One could, in varied degrees, criticize many of the PN government initiatives including the Piano project, the public transport reform, the BWSC power station, etc but no way could one dismiss them as total failures.
So intense was the criticism that the PN gave up on trying to defend them.
To many the Piano project equalled a roofless theatre/cheese grater; the BWSC power station equaled fabbrika tal-kancer; the public transport reform equalled bendy buses/traffic jams.
What irked most was was the way people of whom I had previously thought better ganged up to belittle all of Dr. Gonzi’s efforts to keep Malta afloat in very difficult circumstances encouraging the likes of Dalli, Debono, JPO and Mugliett to do their worst eventually leading to humiliation at the polls.
Sadly, we are now lumped with this corrupt government and no one seems to care.
Thank you so much, Juliet Rix. What a breath of fresh air.
There was only ONE person the BBC should have interviewed, and that is Lawrence Gonzi. They did just that.
Muscat given the cold shoulder by Merkel and the BBC? How dare they do this to our massive Prime Minister aka “The Upstart”?