After living in Malta for six months, Patrick van Schaik felt like he had seen all there was to see. It was then, on his daily commute from his Birkirkara home, that the Dutch national noticed something beautiful: the façade of Mater Dei Hospital. Van Schaik soon became obsessed with other modernist buildings, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, and one architect elicited an “emotional response” – Richard England. The 42-year-old architecture enthusiast made it a mission to visit and photograph every building designed by the Maltese architect and other modernists, and set up a dedicated Instagram page called Limestone Jungle. “Richard England is one of the great architects of the world but people in Malta don’t seem to realise it,” said Van Schaik. The Qawra parish church, La Vallette resort and Millennium Chapel are among the buildings designed by England. Many of the photos on the Instagram account were taken between 2015 and 2019 when Van Schaik lived in Malta. Every weekend, van Schaik and his girlfriend would hop on their bicycle and visit a different England building. Now back in the Netherlands, van Schaik returns to Malta at least once a year, on the lookout for modernist...
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