Local art studio Te fit-Tazza has issued a collection of prints in collaboration with award-winning architect Richard England. The studio describes the collection as one that highlights distinct elements drawn from England’s vast body of work, all of which “combine a local expression with a contemporary aesthetic”. This fusion has become the hallmark of England’s unique architectural vision.

Aquasun Lido

England has always believed that architecture must not only accommodate the functional aspects of a building but more so must enhance the spirit and elevate the soul of its users.

He has often quoted Tennessee William’s words: “I don’t want reality, I want magic”, stating that the job of the architect is to make the ordinary extraordinary.

While embracing a regional approach to architecture with specific reference to place, memo­ry and the zeitgeist of the age, the studio maintains that “England’s inspiration stems from the rich millennial mnemonic layering of his native land – from the Neolithic through the resplendent architecture of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries together with that of the ethnic vernacular typology”.

Context is the most important aspect of architecture

Speaking on an episode of Te fit-Tazza’s podcast series, England described how context is “the most important aspect of architecture”. He maintained that “architecture is a servient art, so you have to qualify and identify the materialistic requirements of a building… but the important thing in the end is that architecture really starts once the function is fulfilled”. 

Referring to the Roman architect Vitruvius’s definition of architecture as a combination of “commodity, firmness and delight”, England said that the former two qualities refer to construction rather than architecture, which he said typifies “the buildings that are going up today”. England maintained that what lifts construction to the level of art and architecture is beauty.

A Garden for Myriam II

While greed and short-sightedness remain an ever-present issue in the contemporary Maltese construction scene, England reminds us that, “as the world becomes more of a global village, what in the future is going to be, even economically, more viable are places that have retained their sprit of place, because once we become one of the world’s global villages with no identity… we’ll lose, in fact, the one specific thing that makes us different from anybody else. But we’ve lost the plot…”

England’s works, spanning six decades, have adamantly maintained their “spirit of place” and their consideration of context. The prints with which Te fit-Tazza is celebrating his work showcase a number of such buildings, including the Manikata church and St James Cavalier.

“My affable and pleasant collaboration with Te fit-Tazza resulted in an artful and insightful collection of prints of a selection of my architectural works. The overlay of a phantasm veneer on each of the views poetically romanticises each image, manifesting my personal penchant in attempting to create dream-like chimerical ambiences,” England told Times of Malta on the initiative.

All prints can be viewed on Te fit-Tazza’s website www.tefittazza.com/richard-england-exhibition/. The full podcast episode between the studio and Richard England is available on Spotify.