The Arts Society in Malta (ASinMalta) is presenting the last of the postponed lectures from its 2019-20 lecture programme, ‘Thinking About Architecture’, which will take place online on Thursday, October 22.

Architecture is usually discussed in terms of styles and periods – romanesque, gothic, classical, baroque, Georgian, modernist, high tech and so on.

Thursday’s lecture by Colin Davies looks at architecture differently, not as an isolated discipline but in relation to the many other ways we human beings understand and come to terms with the world around us.

Abstract concepts like language, form, truth and nature are mental tools that can help us to think more clearly about the buildings and cities we live in. Is a gothic cathedral more ‘organic’ than a classical temple? Should buildings be ‘honest’ in their structure and their use of materials?

Mental tools to think more clearly about the buildings and cities we live in

Is there a relationship bet­ween architectural proportion and musical harmony?

These are some of the questions the lecture poses.

Davies is an architect, a prominent expert in the field of architecture, a former editor of The Architects’ Journal and a regular contributor to architectural magazines worldwide. He was until recently Professor of Architectural Theory at London Metropolitan University. He has made numerous TV and radio appearances.

His books include A New History of Modern Architecture, Thinking about Architecture, The Prefabricated Home, High Tech Architecture, Key Houses of the 20th Century and seve­ral monographs on the work of architects, such as Norman Foster, Michael Hopkins and Nicholas Grimshaw.

Thinking About Architecture will take place online on Thursday. The Arts Society in Malta (ASinMalta) will begin its 2020-21 lecture programme on December 10 with Michelangelo; Paper, Stone & Flesh by Daniel Evans. For more information, visit https://theartssociety.org/asinmalta or e-mail media.secretary.asinmalta@theartssociety.org.