Let’s talk about City Gate

First in line will be a screening of Bettina Hutschek's documentary City Gate - a diary of demolition. Commissioned by the Architecture Project, the 'experimental' documentary aims to get at how the public perception of this familiar structure has changed throughout the course of the City Gate project, between the building, the public, and Valletta itself.

The documentary - which will be screened at 4, Sappers Street, Valletta between March 2 and 16 - will show the removal of the old gate from various angles, with the aim of presenting a subjective take on the city's relationship to its past and present.

"Each time change takes place, the correct balance between past and future, permanence and transience is at stake, transforming the city and its architecture into a placeholder for collective dreams and memories and a container for contemporary myths," was how the Architecture Project described the film's ethos.

Then, on 8 March, a lecture by the anthropologist Elise Billiard will employ the City Gate project to expand upon the idea of public spaces - their use and relevance in a contemporary society which seems to have lost a sense of community.

Billiard's lecture will ask: "Where space is mostly private or restricted, is there a place where a sense of community can proliferate within a framework of public space?"

The lecture - which will take place at Europa House, 254 St Paul's Street, Valletta at 6pm -will further expand on the role of urbanists and architects in designing public spaces which would "encourage local democracy and a sense of common good".

Attendance to the lecture is by reservation only, through [email protected]. For more information, log on to: http://transitproject.tumblr.com/ and www.ap.com.mt/.