The Chamber of Architects and the Society of Architecture and Civil Engineering Students are organising 19 days of activities to generate awareness of the work done in Malta by architects and students.

Entitled Time for Architecture, the activities begin tomorrow and run until 16 October. On 3 October, World Architecture Day, the director of the Royal Institute of British Architects Trust, Charles Knevitt, will lead a discussion on the subject at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

On 4 October, Mr Dennis Sharp will address a business breakfast at Capua Palace, Sliema.

Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech noted that the history of architects in Malta dated back thousands of years. Over the centuries, Maltese architects have been responsible for building the fortifications, churches and palaces that gave Malta its character.

“Maltese towns are currently serving two purposes: for the Maltese people to live in and to attract tourists,” the minister said. He said his job was to make sure that towns were hubs of cultural activity and displayed Malta’s history.

Architects also had a hand in the development that had come about over the 41 years since independence, said Dr Zammit Dimech, referring to hotels, factories and the modern infrastructure. He said Malta would continue to modernise its facilities and therefore architects had an irreplaceable role in the island’s future.

The programme of activities organised by the chamber and the SCES includes film nights between 29 September and 2 October and a children’s workshop tomorrow, all at St James Cavalier. The book entitled Malta – War and Peace, an architectural chronicle 1800-2000 will be launched at the Mediterranean Conference Centre on 6 October, while a conference on the founding myths of architecture will be held at the Archaeology Museum between 7 and 9 October.