President's Award

RICHARD ENGLAND was born in Malta in 1937 and graduated in Architecture from the University of Malta. He continued his studies in Italy at the Milan Polytechnic while working as a student-architect in the studio of the Italian architect-designer Gio Ponti.

England is also a poet, sculptor, photographer and artist and the author of several books on architecture, art, mythology and religion. Monographs have been published on his work by Charles Knevitt, Edwin Heathcote, Chris Abel, Dennis Sharp and Maurizio Vitta, and writers on his work include Renzo Piano, Daniel Libeskind, Juhani Pallasmaa, Paolo Portoghesi and Mario Botta.

England holds professorships at various universities in the U.S.A, U.K. and Europe and is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Vice-President of the International Academy of Architecture, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Officer of The Order of Merit of the Government of Malta. England is also the recipient of a number of Honoris Causa doctorates from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of New York, U.S.A., two Sofia Universities in Bulgaria, the Spiru Haret University in Romania, the University of the Republic of Georgia and in 2016 from the University of Malta.

In 1980 he was one of the architects together with Robert Venturi, Arup Associates, Arthur Erickson, Sheppard Robson, Riccardo Bofill and others, as architectural consultant to the Mayoralty of Baghdad, Iraq to work on the rehabilitation of the city. His buildings have earned him numerous international prizes and awards, including the C.I.C.A. silver medal, the 2000 Belgrade Architectural Triennale Gold Medal and the 2006 International Academy of Architecture Grand Prix. He was also the recipient of the 2012 International Academy of Architecture Annual Award, the Malta Kamra Tal-Periti Life Time Achievement Galizia prize, and the Commonwealth Association of Architects Robert Matthew Award. In 2020 he was appointed Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia and in 2023 he was granted the Freedom of the City of London and elected Hon. Liveryman of the UK Company of architects.

Conrad Thake is an architect, architectural historian, and an associate professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Malta. He graduated with a Bachelors of Architecture and Civil Engineering degree from the University of Malta (1988) and pursued postgraduate studies in North America graduating with an MA in Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada (1990) and a Ph.D. degree in Architecture, at University of California, at Berkeley, USA (1996). Throughout his architectural and planning career he worked on various development briefs for urban regeneration projects and supervised various restoration projects.

He has co-authored with the late Quentin Hughes the two volumes Malta – The Baroque Island, (2003) and Malta – War & Peace, an Architectural Chronicle 1800-2000, (2005). As a Resident Academic at the University of Malta, he has published several books on Maltese architecture including William Scamp – A British Admiralty Architect in Malta (2011), The Ottoman Muslim Cemetery in Malta (2016), Ta’ Braxia Cemetery (2017), Contemporary Architecture in Malta (2016), Portals of Valletta (2017), Art Nouveau to Modernism: Architecture in Malta, 1910-1950 (2021), and his most recent book Architecture – Visions on Paper (2022).

His research and publications on various aspects of Maltese architecture were recognised with awards by ‘The Malta Historical Society’ and the ‘Malta National Book Council.’  Thake has published in several international journals and participated in prestigious overseas fora such as the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, the Salzburg Academy, and the Paul Getty Centre in Los Angeles, US. Throughout his career, architect Conrad Thake has strived to promote and disseminate knowledge and greater awareness on local architectural heritage matters. This he has done reaching out not only to fellow academics but members of the general public by means of his research, publications, lectures, programmes, interviews on the media, and social activism.

Perit Konrad Buhagiar is a well-known and respected professional who has contributed to the education, theory and practice of architecture. Through his work and writings he is well versed in architectural research and in the promotion and advancement of architecture which have contributed to raise awareness in the built environment. His interest and work in the conservation of buildings was noted together with his inspirational design capability. His contribution throughout the years is considered to be outstanding.

In his long career as an architect, Joseph M Spiteri, spent a large part of his architectural career in the Public Works Department and was involved in various projects and designs, amongst which was his collaboration with the Italconsult planning firm called in to advice on the “Master Plan” for the Maltese Islands in 1965. Perit Spiteri designed various notable public projects such as the housing and residential schemes include Santa Lucija and San Gwann, Mtarfa, and King’s Gate, as well as the design for various schools and civic centres, the Ta’ Qali National Park, and the Kennedy Groove Memorial.

In his private practice, Perit Spiteri collaborated with artist Emvin Cremona in the design of his residence in Attard and with Godfrey Azzopardi in the design and finishes of the Carmelite Church at Balluta. For Maltaconsult, he designed the conversion of the Sacra Infermeria into a national conference centre, which eventually went on to win a Europa Nostra award.

He was instrumental in the formation of several generations of architects while lecturing at the University of Malta during the period 1980-1995 in the disciplines of architectural design, landscape design and town planning issues.

Dr. Cassar has served for several decades within public service. He has contributed in a significant manner, advocating the need for comprehensive spatial planning. He was instrumental in the late-1980s and 1990s in pioneering the establishment of the Planning Authority, later to be known as the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA). He spearheaded the formulation of a comprehensive Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands, Local Plans and several urban development and regeneration briefs.

He served as General Director of Planning Authority and of MEPA and steered the agency in the formulation of sustainable planning policies that are applicable to both the natural and built environments. In 1996, he was admitted as Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute (FRTPI). In July 1998, he was awarded a doctoral degree (honoris causa) by the University of Central England, Birmingham in recognition of his distinguished services to planning. His various writings and contributions on planning were published in the volume ‘Planning Matters’.