Architect, Architectural Historian, Associate Professor

Born in London, England, the son of Henry and May née Glanville, Conrad attended the Government Primary school at Marsascala, De La Salle College, Vittoriosa and the UM.

Thake graduated BE&A (Hons.) from the UM (1988) and proceeded to pursue postgraduate studies in North America, at the University of Waterloo, Canada with an MA degree in Urban and Regional Planning (1991) and a PhD in Architecture from the College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley, USA (1996). In 2005 he was Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar, Austria, and had participated in the symposium, ‘Architecture and Public Life’ organized in collaboration with the Graduate School of Architecture, Yale University, U.S, chairperson: Robert Stern, held at Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, Austria.

He served as senior lecturer (2007-2012) and is currently an associate professor in the Department of History of Art, Faculty of Arts, UM, where he teaches courses and conducts academic research in areas related to architectural and urban history. He was also visiting lecturer at the Seminario di Studi - Architettura in Sicilia e a Malta, nell’età moderna, Dipartimento di Architettura, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Sicilia, in June 2015, and at the Facoltà d’Architettura, Università di Napoli II, Luigi Vanvitelli, Aversa, in March 2013.

For a brief period Thake worked in the architectural design office of Prof. Wilhelm Holzbauer in Vienna, Austria (1989-1991) where he had the opportunity to participate in a number of international design competitions.

During 1995-2000, he was engaged as an urban design executive with the Planning Authority in Malta during which period he was responsible for the preparation of several development briefs for major national capital projects including that of the National Arts Centre, Valletta; the Cottonera Waterfront project, the Valletta Cruise Passenger Terminal Project and Fort St. Elmo and its environs, Valletta. During the period 2001-2004, he served as chairman of the ‘Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools’, an agency responsible for the refurbishment and construction of government schools.

Architect Conrad Thake was involved in the following restorations projects: the De Redin coastal tower, Sliema, the facade of the Dominican priory church, Rabat,  the facade of the Ta’ Doni church, Rabat, the two side-aisle cupolas in St Paul’s parish church, Rabat, St Cathaldus church, Rabat, the façade of St Philip parish church, Ħaż-Żebbuġ, and the projects within the Old Hospital of the knights of the Order of St. John, Sacra Infermeria, Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.

Architect Thake has served on a number of committees and boards: the Valletta Rehabilitation Committee (1997-1998), the Mediterranean Conference Centre (1998-2008), the Development Control Commission (2002-2004), the Planning Appeals Board (2004-2010), Chairman, Planning Appeals Tribunal, (PAB) (2012-2013), the Commissione Art Sacra (2012), and Member, Faculty of Arts board, University of Malta (2013-).

He is also a member of the editorial board of the journal The Architect, published by the Kamra tal-Periti.

Conrad Thake has published extensively in several international academic journals on architectural and urban historical themes as in Cities, Demetra, L’Arca, Spazio e Società, Palladio, and the Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review. He has also served as a visiting professor to the Facoltà d’Architettura, Università di Napoli II, Luigi Vanvitelli, (2013) and the Dipartimento di Architettura, Università degli Studi di Palermo, (2015). He has written five books.

He is married to Anne Marie née Busuttil and has two sons, Edward and Andrew. He is a former national chess champion (1988) and has represented Malta in two chess Olympiads held in Malta (1980) and Thessaloniki, Greece (1988).

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.