Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/459448
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2015 15 be the very last people to comment about poor taste in others. Some of us remember, for instance, what the Sliema seafront looked like before the 1980s; what went up since then seems to fit in perfectly with Torpi- ano's own complaints about lack of taste, planning and long-term vision. The same could be said for much of Malta's built-up environment. Doesn't this make the Kamra tal- Periti guilty of the same flaws it now complains about? "No. I agree with you on the ques- tion of taste, but not on the rest. When these developments start, they are not driven by architects; they're driven by the owners. The Sliema front started to be developed be- cause the owners of the houses per- ceived that they could demolish their properties and rebuild…" But what they built instead was de- signed for them by architects… "Yes, that's where taste comes into it. Some architects – not all are of the same quality – will say: 'OK, you want to drop it down? Looking at the planning rules, I can give you four floors… maybe we'll try for five…" Torpiano pre-empts a rather ob- vious next question on my part, by acknowledging criticism of his own efforts as the main architect of the Midi project at Tigne point. "I don't want to bring in my own personal experience, but when I was involved in a project that was planned holis- tically…" [as opposed to the afore- mentioned style of development, which had been criticised as 'piece- meal'] "… I was criticised because it was a 'mega-project'. But if you have a mega-project, you can control…" People are welcome to criticise, he adds… but in his own defence he ar- gues that there was at least an effort to create something of quality. "If there is not even an attempt at quality, how can you compare? You can complain about my elevation or the visual impact of the project, but at least I tried… I'm not as good as Renzo Piano, but I tried. Did they even try when it came to the design of the market stalls? Did they study alternatives? That is what I think is wrong here." Torpiano also reminds me that the present furore concerns a decision taken, not by a private developer, but by the State. "The State took this de- cision at the same time as it declared it will be promoting culture, with V18 coming up, and all that. So they have this vision, and then…" he raps his desk. "They break it. This is what I can't understand…" Meanwhile, if I may broaden the scope of this interview slightly… there is now talk of a general amnes- ty on past planning infringements, which may result in the sanctioning of illegally-built properties in ODZ areas. This seems to reinforce an existing perception that it's OK to break the rules, because sooner or later you will always get a chance to legitimise your past 'mistakes'. How does Torpiano view the deci- sion to grant an amnesty for illegal development? "I'm very nervous about it. I ap- preciate that there are many small things that add up to I don't know how many thousands of infringe- ments; and I'm sure that a good chunk of those infringements con- cern silly things… the sort of plan- ning infringements that are wrong, yes, but on a very small scale. In the- ory, I think we should clear out the small infringements and get them out of the way. But if we're going to extend this principle to sanctioning illegal development – I'm not sure of the full details yet – I'm very nerv- ous. Even in terms of social justice: so if I play by the rules… let's say I have a piece of land outside the scheme, and I didn't want to play the cowboy and build… and then, some- body else does precisely that… is he going to get it sanctioned? And then be able to sell it? That's really unjust, irrespective of architectural issues. If you break the law, you can gain from it…" Torpiano sees a correlation with the monti stalls issue: if nothing else, because justification of both issues seems to stem from a cultural acqui- escence to mediocrity. "The message that is being sent out is that everything is OK, because this is all part of our 'culture'. We have a culture of 'arranging' things, too. I've even had foreign clients asking me 'whom to speak to' to get things done. I told them 'whom do you speak to in England?' They replied: 'You can't speak to people in Eng- land, but we're told that in Malta, that's what you do.' Hold on a minute. Is that what we are? Is that our culture? And do we celebrate it because that's our cul- ture? I think that's a very weak argu- ment. I think there ARE values: you can say 'this' is better than 'that'. By accepting everything as 'culture', all we've done is get ourselves stuck in a rut. We're not acknowledging that we have a problem. So we're not get- ting out of the rut." Interview Architect and dean of the University's Faculty for the Built Environment, ALEX TORPIANO, vents his frustration that Malta is stuck in a cultural rut rut