Architecture & Design

Architecture & Design | 19 F ifty years a parish, twelve years in the making, and sixty-two years since, as a young inexperienced architect, I first got involved with the project. Manikata church remains perhaps the work I hold closest to my heart, for reasons beyond architecture. On my return from an eighteen-month student-architect experience in the Milan studio of Gio Ponti, my father, at the time one of Malta's leading architects, handed me the design of the church as a gift for my successful Milan studies venture. My initial designs for the church were based on a philosophy of producing a church of its time, but also specifically to its place. Initially, my designs proved to be unacceptable to the five hundred villagers, more keen to have a dome larger than that of the adjacent village of Mgarr. An approach which only changed after the project was published in the UK Architectural Review and praised as an exemplary work of critical Regionalism. Still, problems remained — lack of funds, the untimely death of the commissioning rector, and not least Archbishop Gonzi's antipathy and aversion to the project. Progress was slow and funds limited. As such, the partially completed building carcass stood inert for more than a five-year period. Work recommenced, and by 1974 the church was completed and inaugurated. Manikata church, since inauguration, has attracted international attraction, considered an exemplar of not only Regionalism but also as a model of modern post- Vatican II sacred architecture. For me, the making of the project remains a treasured experience. Since its inauguration, the church has regretfully not only been dwarfed by oversized, out-of-scale apartment blocks but also suffered from neglect and lack of maintenance. Six decades after it was conceived, the church still stands proud as a prayer place, rooted both to today's ecclesiastical requirements and belonging to its place and local cultural identity.

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