Anyone strolling along the Sliema promenade this past week must have come across a series of panels featuring popular and perhaps less familiar architectural gems found across the islands.

Organised by the Planning Authority, this photographic roadshow exhibition, titled Unsung Architectural Icons, features 30 important buildings and monuments, built in the late 19th and 20th century, that are protected by the regulator at Grade 1 or 2. They were captured by 10 members of the Malta Institute of Professional Photographers (MIPP).

Most of the buildings portrayed are called ‘modernist’ − a style or philosophy of architecture and design introduced in the early 20th century in response to large-scale changes in technology and society.

The style was associated with an analytical approach to the function of buildings, strictly rational use of often new materials such as glass, steel and reinforced concrete, structural innovation and the elimination of ornament.

These include the Art Deco-style showroom of Muscat Motors, in Gżira; the Rialto cinema, in Cospicua, which was designed in an Art Moderne style by Maltese architect Edwin England Sant Fournier; and the Vincenzo Bugeja Institute, in Santa Venera, designed in a French classical style by well-known architect Emmanuel Luigi Galizia.

Also on display are a number of churches such as All Souls church, in Tarxien, St Joseph parish church, in Manikata, designed by Richard England, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish church, in Fgura, which was designed by three architects in the 1960s and is built in reinforced concrete.

The exhibition panels are illuminated at night.

There are also residences like the majestic Art Nouveau apartment block known as Balluta Buildings, overlooking Balluta Bay, in St Julian’s, and Villa Ellul, in Ta’ Xbiex, one of the earliest examples of modernist architecture, designed by architect Salvatore Ellul.

This house was inspired by the Parisian modern house designs of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret aka Le Corbusier, a Swiss-French pioneer of modernist architecture.

Also featured are Villa Mediterranja and Villa Flora, in Attard, two asymmetrical semi-detached dwellings designed by Emvin Cremona, one of Malta’s leading 20th-century modernist artists, in collaboration with modernist architect Joseph M. Spiteri.

Detailed information about every specific building is found on each exhibition panel. A booklet on the project will soon be available at an information stand set up at the exhibition venue.

Planning Authority executive chairman Johann Buttigieg said the exhibition is intended to raise awareness and an appreciation among the public for some of the country’s architectural treasures, “which at times go unnoticed because they are not the typical palazzo or auberge with grand facades”.

The Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, Joe Magro Conti, said the exhibition is a tribute to the creativity of Maltese architects.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish church in Fgura.

“They fostered the classical principles of Roman writer Vitruvius about architecture and design: proportion, rhythm, symmetry, balance, composition and harmony,” he said.

MIPP president Kevin Casha praised the initiative and also the decision to display the photos in popular outdoor venues rather than in a museum. “It takes the message to the public instead of the public having to go to a museum,” Mr Casha commented.

Asked about the difficulty of photographing architecture, he said it is crucial to find the exact time and the right weather to bring out the details, texture and what the architect had in mind when designing the building.

“Then, it’s finding the right viewpoint and how to surmount problems of perhaps not having enough space to move back and bring out the building in its full glory,” he added. Items such as cars, hanging cables and poles often pose a problem and, naturally, need to avoided, which may be hard at times, Mr Casha said.

The exhibition runs at the Sliema promenade (next to The Chalet) until Wednesday. It will then move to St Paul’s Bay, where it will be set up in front of the Malta National Aquarium between July 22 and 31.

Between August 10 and 19, the display will be placed in front of the Marsaxlokk parish church and will end off in St George’s Square in Valletta between August 26 and September 4. The initiative is partially funded by the European Union.

A couple looking at a photo of Blackley Bakery in Pietà.

Rialto Cinema in Cospicua.

Muscat Motors in Gż̇ira.