Kamra tal-Periti reiterate call to remove barriers from Freedom Square

The Kamra tal-Periti (KTP) has called for the removal of the barriers around the Parliament building, noting that the barriers’ presence breach a number of laws. 

In a statement on World Architecture Day, the KTP urged the public and lawmakers to consider how architecture can elevate the quality of life on the islands.

The KTP noted that in the past, it had advocated for high-quality architecture and challenged outdated visions for urban development. 

“However, if there is one intervention in Malta’s public space that symbolically embodies the disregard, verging on contempt, with which architecture and the work of architects is generally held, it is the blight around Freedom Square upon which the parliament building designed by Renzo Piano stands.”

The barriers were installed following mass protests in light of revelations surrounding the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2019. Replying to a parliamentary question in 2022, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia stated that the barriers will remain in place until a permanent solution is found.

The KTP stated that the presence of permanent barriers around parliament undermines its architectural intent, which was to foster transparency in democratic processes and bridge the gap between the electorate and MPs.

“The permanently installed barriers that are erected around this building completely reverse the design intent of the architect, and instead places a physical separation between the electors and the elected, a gap which the design sought to eradicate.”

The Chamber further criticised this situation as emblematic of a broader cultural and educational gap in understanding the significance of architecture and public space in Malta.

The KTP called on the Speaker of the House, the Planning Authority, the Lands Authority and the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation, among other entities, to give Freedom Square back to the public.