From Mr M. Parnis

Reading Daphne CG’s comments about the attitude of some Maltese people towards the choice of Renzo Piano reminds me of the saga surrounding the building of the Sydney Opera House and its architect Jan Utzon in the early 1960s in Sydney.

After finishing the first two stages of the building, Utzon, was set upon by the politicians who had originally opposed the building and design of the project, when it was first mooted. When they got into government, they employed public service architects and other nobodies who proceeded to destroy the acoustic properties of the interior through changes to the original design.

Of course, Utzon would not stand for this and resigned and went back to Denmark. Thank God that the exterior was basically faithful to his original plan.

The upshot was that the people of New South Wales had to spend millions more dollars trying to rectify the acoustics of the completed Opera House.

Today, the Opera House is regarded as the signature building not only of Sydney, but of the whole of Australia. Everyone remembers Utzon with awe and gratitude for his magnificent vision and daring, and no one ever hears or remembers his detractors and the dilettantes who tinkered with his plans.

So the deal is that when you get the best, you do not then tie their hands behind their back and expect them to soar. Piano has a track record, so give him space and the means to produce a gate that will attract and inspire the people who will walk through it in the future.

Manny Parnis