Brief Curriculum Vitae : Denis De Lucca
Professor Denis De Lucca B.A (Arch.); B. Arch. Hons.); Ph.D (Liverpool); F.A.S.I (UK); F.R.Hist.S.;
Perit, was born in Malta in 1952 and graduated in architecture from the University of Malta in 1975. He
afterwards practised his profession, lectured on architecture and carried out primary source research on
various aspects of architectural history, focusing on Baroque art and architecture. Following the submission
of a doctoral thesis on The Contribution of the Jesuits to Military Architecture in the Baroque Age he
afterwards obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool. De Lucca has also occupied the position of
Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Malta (1989-2001) and is
currently the Deputy-Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment, the Head of the Department of
Architecture and Urban Design and the Director of the International Institute for Baroque Studies at the
same university. During the period 1996-2006 Professor De Lucca chaired the Mdina Rehabilitation
Committee in the Resources and Infrastructure Ministry which was responsible for the active conservation
of this unique Medieval-Baroque walled town situated in the centre of the Mediterrenean.
The winner of the Faber 2000 prize for outstanding achievement in architectural research, awarded in the
Sala della Protomoteca of the Campidoglio in Rome, De Lucca has contributed numerous papers to
academic publications among which one can mention: The Maltese Perit in History (1975); Studies in
Maltese Architecture: Romano Carapecchia (1975); Baroque Town Planning in 18th century Mdina
(1976); Baroque Mdina (1977); French Military Engineers in Malta during the 17th and 18th centuries
(1981); The Contribution of Francois de Mondion to the Architectural Development of 18th century Malta
(1982); The Architecture of Valletta (1983); A Historical Analysis of Mediterranean Architecture (1984);
Islamic Architectural Manifestations in eighteenth-century century Mdina (1985); Eighteenth-Century
Architecture in Malta (1989); The Genesis of Maltese Baroque Architecture – Francesco Buonamici
(1994); Medievale e Barocco a Mdina (1994); Fortress Malta (1994); Walled Towns of Malta (1995);
Appuntamenti sull’Architettura Religiosa a Malta in Eta Barocca (1995); Limestone Buildings in Malta: A
Historical Perspective (1996); Waterfronts of Valletta and Birgu: Projects by the Order of St John (1998);
Sito, Fortificazioni e Tessuto Urbano nel Cinquecento: La progettatazione e lo sviluppo della nuova cittàfortezza della Valletta (1999); Architecture and Town Planning ideals in seventeenth-century Malta (1999);
Some unexplored Baroque-Vernacular Interactions in Maltese Village Environments (2000); Il Restauro di
Mdina (2002); Valletta e Mdina – Le due Capitali del Barocco Maltese (2002); The Festa Funebre of
Baroque Europe (2003) and La Trasformazione della città-fortezza di Mdina a Malta dopo il terremoto del
1693 (2010).
The author of seven books entitled Mdina: A History of its Urban Space and Architecture (1995);
Carapecchia: Master of Baroque Architecture in early-eighteenth century Malta (1999); Giovanni Battista
Vertova: Diplomacy ,Warfare and Military Engineering Practice in early seventeenth-century Malta
(2001); Mondion: the achievement of a French military engineer working in Malta in the early eighteenth
century (2003) ; A Description of Baroque Malta by Albert Jouvin de Rochefort (2004); Francesco
Buonamici : Painter, Architect and Military Engineer in seventeenth century Malta and Italy (2006); and
Jesuits and Fortifications : The contribution of the Jesuits to Military Architecture in the Baroque Age
(2012). De Lucca has in addition contributed a series of studies to a number of major works including The
British Colonial Experience: The Impact on Maltese Society (1988); Gozo – the Roots of an Island (1990);
Collected Papers (1992); Birgu – A Maltese Maritime City (1993); Companion to Contemporary
Architectural Thought (1993); Mosta: The Heart of Malta (1996); Evangelista Menga: Dal Castello di
Copertino al Grande Assedio di Malta (1999); Annali del Barocco in Sicilia (1999, 2001); Matteo Perez
d’Aleccio - Pittore Ufficiale del Grande Assedio di Malta (2000) ; Malta-Roots of a Nation (2004); Atlante
Tematico del Barocco in Italia: Le Capitali della festa barocca (2007); and Baroque Architecture in the
Maltese Islands (2011).