To draw, look and absorb - Richard England's advice

The former dean of the faculty of architecture and one of Malta's leading architects, yesterday made an impassioned plea to architecture students to "draw, draw and draw".

"You cannot communicate an idea unless you draw. An idea is infinite and you pass it to yourself and you communicate by drawing it," Richard England said.

"You first think and then design. You churn out sketch after sketch, each one improving or modifying a previous one. One design leads to the next. It is an evolutionary process," he said.

Prof. England practises what he preaches, and his latest book, Viaggio in Italia , which has been published in Italy and will be launched in Malta tomorrow evening, is a collection of drawings of different places in Italy.

The book contains 100 drawings of various places in different regions of Italy. Each drawing is accompanied by a quote, by a well known personality, about the place illustrated.

In a few pages at the end of the book, Prof. England sets the stage by capturing the feel of the places, the emotions, the sounds and smells, describing the scent of pasta and the voices of great singers that follow you around the streets of Naples.

"Italy has those wonderful cities and those splendid silences in between, which give Italy its real ambience.

"I have tried to freeze instants of ecstasy and to document my love and admiration for the country that I hold closer to my heart than any other country I visited."

Prof. England said he had first discovered Italy when he was a student architect working in Geo Ponti's office in the 1960s.

"I used to go around and photograph these beautiful places and I used to be so engrossed that I failed to see the place as I should have done.

"I realised this when looking at the photos, which would be great, but then I used to start noticing wonderful details which I had not seen but had captured on film. And I said to myself that I should go around, and this time, sketch and draw.

"What you draw remains with you.

"Drawing is an important activity for an architect. When you draw, you analyse and synthesise. The problem with today's architecture students is that they sit at a computer instead of drawing. The computer cannot do what the combination of the human hand, eyes and brain can.

"When you draw, you have to look and absorb. You focus and sketch what is essential, leaving out the unnecessary details. You get a feel of the scale. The most difficult thing is to decide not what to draw but what to leave out," Prof. England said.

Another aspect which he feels is lacking in architecture students is "an overall cultural education".

"We tend to pigeonhole. Music, poetry, literature and architecture are not blended together when they should be," he said.

"You are what you know and you can only enjoy what you know. I find Italy very inspiring. A walk around many streets in Italy is a cultural experience. In Florence, you walk past and see Brunelleschi's dome, Giotto's campanile and Ghiberti's Baptistry portals. There is a continuous presence of a past that still lives on and is still functional.

"Henry James wrote that 'Italy is mostly an emotion', and he was very right. Other great people had wonderful things to say about Italy. Mark Twain had said that 'the Creator made Italy from designs by Michelangelo'.

"To round up the work, I decided to publish the drawings accompanied by quotes I had heard or read about Italy.

"Because I have drawn the places, I can close my eyes and see the Tuscan hills so real that they appear to be painted, and the architecture emerging from the earth. I can see Puglia, with white shapes basking in the sun," he said.

The book is dedicated to his grandchildren, with whom he travelled over the past five years while preparing the drawings for it.

The launch will be held at the Italian Cultural Institute in Palace Square tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Italian Architect Prof. Mario Pisani has come to Malta for the launch. Tenor Juan Gambina will interpret Italian songs and compositions by Marc England.