Professor Denis De Lucca was born in Malta in 1952 and graduated in architecture from the University of Malta in 1975. He afterwards practised his profession, lectured in architecture and carried out primary source research on various aspects of architectural history and theory. Since 1989, the author has occupied the positions of Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design and Director of the very active International Institute for Baroque Studies at the University of Malta. He also chairs the Mdina Rehabilitation Committee in the Resources and Infrastructure Ministry.
The winner of the Faber 2000 prize for outstanding achievement in architectural research, Professor De Lucca has contributed numerous papers to academic publications among which one can mention: 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); Islamic Architectural Manifestations in Town of Malta (1995);Waterfronts of Valletta and Birgu : Projects by the Order of St. John (1998); andSome Unexplored Baroque – Vernacular Interactions in Maltese Village Environments (2000).
The author and designer of three books entitled Mdina: A History of its Urban Space and Architecture (1995), Carapecchia: Master of Baroque Architecture in early eighteenth century Malta (1999) and Giovanni Battista Vertova: Diplomacy, Warfare and Military Engineering Practice in early 17th century Malta (2001), professor De Lucca has in addition contributed a series of studies to a number of books 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 Architecture Thought (1993); Mosta: The Heart of Malta (1996); Evangelista Menga: Dal Castello do Copertino al Grande Assedio di Malta (1999); Annali del Barocco in Sicilia (1999, 2001) and Matteo Perez d’Aleccio – Pittore Ufficiale del Grande Assedio di Malta (2000).
