Maltese myths.

A conference on architectural history entitled 'The Founding Myths of Architecture' was recently held in the splendid late sixteenth-century Auberge de Provence in Valletta, capital of Malta. The programme gave considerable scope for personal views and reflection, and so speakers included international architectural historians Caspar Pearson, Claude Massu, Pascal Julien, and Fabio Barry, theoreticians including Kari Jormakka from Vienna, and practising architects such as Eric Parry, former RIBA president George Ferguson, and also Swiss architect Walter Hunziker who last year won an international competition for the design of new protective structures and tourist facilities at the famous megalithic temple sites on the island. The event coincided with Malta's Time for Architecture festival, which is supported by the local chamber of architects, and with the opening of an exhibition on the nineteenth-century Maltese Atlantis fantasist Georges Grognet at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

The conference itself was a remarkable one because it was organised not by an academic body but by a private practice, Architecture Project of Valletta (AP). This firm, which has now been established for some 15 years, is making a name for itself as one of the leading practices in Malta not only because of its sensitive and imaginative approach to the interface between conservation and new technology (AR July 2001), but also because of the tireless efforts of its young partners and their many international assistants to raise the level of architectural debate and education on the island. The scale and success of an international conference such as this therefore marks a significant stage in the cultural development of the country in the aftermath of its EU membership. The fact that the Maltese government had recently appointed one of the conference speakers, Baroque theatre historian Vicki Ann Cremona, as the country's ambassador to Paris is certainly a cause for optimism.