Quick Facts
Biography
Alberto La Ferla (1898-1942) was a Maltese architect, active in the 1930s.
La Ferma graduated in architecture from the University of Malta and continued his studies in Turin. As he deemed Art Nouveau to be a decadent style, he aimed to detach himself from any reference to it. He rather adhered to the new Italian architectural fashion: monumentalism and Stile Littorio.
In 1924 he designed the Malta's pavilion for the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, which Mark G. Muscat assesses as "an agglomeration of past references that were all crammed into a single exhibit".
La Ferla practiced in Malta in the 1930s. He authored Cactus House in Triq Manwel Dimech, Sliema (1931), in which he "put classicist order aside, in favour of a forced monumentalism".
"The façade is designed with the aim of making the two-storeyed terraced house look grand and imposing. It could be noted that the various references to cactus and palm trees in the ironwork are an illusion to the Italian war victories in Africa at the time the house was being built. The oversize columns support a concrete balcony, which La Ferla used frequently in his townhouses; this offered the advantage of omitting the central console bracket. La Ferla's patterns are comparable to the simplified classical forms used in Stile Littorio buildings throughout Italy. It is not possible to perceive to what extent the client was aware of the undertones of La Ferla's influence of the Stile Littorio, although it was popular in Italy at the time. "
La Ferla also designed a Casa del Fascio for Marsaxlokk, with "conspicuous Fascist architectural connotations" (never built) as well as Villa Gloria in Ta' Xbiex, in which it is possible to see the elements of Stile Littorio:
"Villa Gloria in Ta' Xbiex also manifests influence of the Stile Littorio idiom. From a distance the villa loook much like the other villas surrounding it. However, a closer and critical inspection reveals an astute illusion. The columns along the façade are similar to a fascio... Having been built in the 1930s it is at least tempting to consider the possibility that the fascio was not an accidental inclusion, but an intentional design element of these peculiar columns."
According to Edward Said, La Ferla
"paid special attention to the design of the apertures and wrought iron fittings employing motifs such as the shield-panels on doors and balconies, as well as railings with basic spiralling, which were features of the balcony railings and main door fanlight.These can be seen on a number of his facades along Amery, Milner, Howard and Dingli Streets [in Sliema].He cleverly succeeded in striking symmetry to single-fronted houses as can be seen in his Milner Street and Prince of Wales Road (today Manwel Dimech Street) terraced residences.He also designed the ‘Warrior’ building in Old College Street, built for a Maltese Royal Navy seaman who served on a ship by that name.He also designed ‘Cactus house’ which is situated near the Old College Street bridge crossing Prince of Wales Road up from Balluta, adopting a rectilinear style façade with pillar and symbolic design of the balcony railing and main door fanlight."
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