Architecture and the Catholic Curch in Malta

Modernism and the Catholic Church

Early promoters of modernism such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Loyd Wright and Otto Wagner rejected traditional and historical artefacts in their designs. As modernism grasped its hands around society the church also felt the need to break with the past. Due to the promoter’s rejection, traditional motifs in sacred buildings had to be subtracted and abstracted .

In some particular cases the Vatican felt that modernist architects who designed churches were going overboard. This sort of criticism dragged till this very day were the head of the Vatican’s pontifitial council for culture compared these newly designed places of worship to museums. He also stated that these sacred buildings are diverting from the traditional form and iconography of the church.

On the other hand the church also benefited from this radical change in architecture, as a modernist style came at a low cost compared to previous styles such as baroque. The main reason that it was cost efficient to construct was the fact that they do not need any ornamental decorations that require skilled craftsman. Another benefit that the church had by adapting to this style was that it showed that it was open to new developments in society.  

Modernism and Catholic Church in Malta

In Malta we can find a total of 359 churches dominating the skyline. We can find a variety of styles in Maltese churches, such as; baroque, neo classical, medieval and neo gothic. It wasn’t until the early 60s, were Maltese architects were showing late modernist influences in their designs. In this era when the church was ongoing major reforms in order to unite the celebrant and the congregation one of the greatest contemporary architects in Malta, Richard England designed one of the first modernist churches in 1962, in Manikata.  He is responsible for most modernist sacred buildings on the island. Although there are a number of other architects who later designed places of worship that were influenced by modernism,  such as; Lino Gatt, William Micallef and Victor Muscat Inglot. These are some modernist churches we can find in Malta.

St Joseph church was the first church to be built in a modernist style, situated in Manikata. The church dedicated to St Joseph was design by Richard England in 1962. England was well aware of the major reforms that were taking place by the church at that time, and took this opportunity to introduce his own style which was modernism and eliminate the traditional baroque. His main priority was to balance his design with its natural surroundings in order to achieve a peaceful outcome.  One of his main inspirations was the girna, which is a small building made from stone where farmers used to store their goods. Another inspiration to this design was the modernist architecture Richard England was exposed to when he studied abroad. Today it is one the most innovative structures in Malta and is considered to be a Grade 1 monument by the environmental planning authority. 

Another project done by Richard England in 2009 was the dar il-Hanin Samaritan situated in St Venera it was completed in 2014. This is another example of the late modernized style the church has adopted. Unlike the church in Manikata England didn’t go for flowing forms and shapes, rather in this project he preferred ridged and stiff geometrical shapes due to its urbanized surroundings. The design emphasizes on space and light as there are many openings to allow natural light to enter. The design is quite playful and fun and hardly resembles any church built previously on the island.

The St Theresa church, situated in Birkirkara was designed in 1965 by Giorgio Pacini of Rome, completed in 1982 and is considered a masterpiece of art and modern technology. It is one of the biggest domes in Malta and is in fact one the largest operating churches in Malta. The design has a mixture of stiff and curved lines. It lacks ornamental decorations on the exterior and is a clear indication that its main purpose is its function, to serve the growing number of mass attendance due to its volume. Its large windows that are located at the top of the dome are made to create indirect lighting and to illuminate the whole building.

Another example of a modernised church is chapel situated at the University of Malta which is dedicated to St Thomas. It was design by Lino Gatt in 1970 and constructed in 1978. It was the natural surroundings of the location that inspired the architect  (Times of Malta, 2012). And it was nature its self that made go for an organic modern style in order to embrace it with its surroundings rather than to dominating it. He also designed the chapel to have a high roof in order to allow more natural light to enter. The red roof which was painted on top of the church was done to protect it from exterior forces and at the same time it also serves as an artistic element as it creates contrast with its surrounding.    

Bibliography

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