A few weeks back, I managed to purchase one of the monographs which celebrate his contribution to the Maltese architectural scene. It occurred to me to attempt contacting England with the hope of getting an appointment and get it signed in some hasty meeting amidst his busy schedule. I did send an email to the usual "Contact us" address off the website and, to my great surprise, I received an email from his personal email account a few days later, inviting me to call him on his mobile phone and arrange to meet him during my Malta visit.
Once on the island, I did call him and he asked me to visit him at home on the Monday evening. And so we did, drove up to that familiar street off Paceville where I sometimes used to park during busy weekends. As soon as I opened the gate, Richard himself opened the door and ushered us into his home and to his studio.
Wow, is the unavoidable cliché that one will say upon setting eyes on the immense, ordered collection of books, figures, drawings and CDs. Richard broke the ice by asking our opinion on the current architectural status in the world and I urged him to stick to tiny Malta for the time being. With a sense of nostalgia, he confessed that there is no longer a Maltese architecture to talk about, only a "building industry".
It was a relief to hear that England still believes there are a "handful" of good architects in their early or late 30s, the foremost of which is, in his opinion, my own cousin Chris. We discussed Valletta, Piano's proposal, the prospect of highrises in Malta, our Ph.D. research in London, his view of the superstar architects and of sustainability and structural engineering. And of course, signed my book. Not only that, but he presented us with a marvellous collection of his architectural-artistic sketches and drawings. Also with a dedication and signed, of course.
A good one hour later, Richard warmly wished us well in our research and asked us to keep in touch and pay him other visits whenever we are in Malta. On the way out, he showed us a pencil drawing on tracing paper from Basil Spence's hand - one of the original proposals for Coventry Cathedral. England re-iterated the importance of architects using the pencil (or, in his case, the pen) and not the computer, for the latter "does not think" and only the hand can transfer ideas from the mind to paper.
A meeting which I initially envisaged as being intimidating, hurried and impersonal turned out to be warm, leisurely and of a kind which would almost be even beyond one between two acquaintances. Meeting Richard England, who is (almost) definitely the best living Maltese architect and (most) probably a very significant architect of the Mediterranean region, truly exceeded all expectations.
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