Lino Bianco

Since 1994 Bianco has held various visiting teaching posts, lecturing on the philosophy of restoration of heritage sites, industrial and environmental geology, and minerals planning. He is a resident academic at the Department of Architecture and Urban Design of the University of Malta where he teaches and directs research on the history and philosophy of architecture. He is a professor of the International Academy of Architecture and a visiting professor in history and theory of urban design at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia.

In 1997 he set up Lino Bianco & Associates, which offers consultancy services in architecture and environmental planning to private and public agencies.[2] From 1997-8, he was Chairman of the Planning Council Malta and, from 1997 until 2000, a member of the Planning Appeals Board (Malta). He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Housing Authority, Malta,[5] member of the Board of Directors of WasteServ Malta Ltd[6] and member of the General Services Board, Malta.[7]

Bianco is acknowledged for challenging developments which impinge negatively on natural and/or cultural heritage, such as the multimillion touristic development of Ramla l-Hamra in Gozo, a site associated with the legendary Homeric nymph Calypso.[8] This case was eventually taken up at the national political level[9] and took more than six years.[10] Bianco describes himself as pro-development but against speculation,[11] and the Times of Malta had described his approach to environmental protection as innovative.[12]

In 2012, he was elected professor of the International Academy of Architecture at the World Triennial of Architecture held in Sofia in 2012; he is one of the youngest architects to hold this post.[13] A project in Zabbar, Malta, received a special prize from the Ministry of Building of Ulyanovsk Region, Russia, for innovation in traditional architecture at InterArch2012.[14][15][16]In 2015, he received a special prize of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Sofia for his project in Gozo, the sister island of Malta, entitled ‘A Home of Time and Memory’[17]

Bianco was a candidate of the Malta Labour Party for the European Parliament elections of 2014, with an emphasis on national unity[18] in diversity.[19] His stand on irregular immigration,[20] spring hunting[21] and the environment,[22] themes which ran high on the political agenda, illustrated his political philosophy of toleration applied to real scenarios. He is Ambassador Emeritus of Malta to Bulgaria; [23] [24] presently he is the ambassador of Malta to Romania [25] [26] [27] and to Moldova [28] [29]

• ‘A Home for an Architect’, (Completed, 1998–2001), Zabbar, Malta[16]
• Entrances to Second World War shelter, (2005-2006), Zabbar, Malta[30]
• Shopping complex, (Completed 2008), Paola, Malta [31]
• Interpretation facility, (Design, 2008), Mgarr, Gozo [32]
• Apartments at Ħamrun, (Completed, 2008–11), Hamrun, Malta[33]
• Apartments at Nadur, (Design, 2009), Nadur, Gozo[34]
• Artisan Urban Hub, Place Lalla Yeddouna, Fez, Morocco (Competition entry, 2010)[35]
• Redevelopment of Via Roma, Agazzano, Italy (Competition entry, 2012)[36]
• Upgrading and restoration of the ‘Boutilliere’, Cogne, Valle d'Aosta, Italy (Competition entry, 2012)[37]
• Public spaces for Halte Ceva Champel Hopital, Genève (Competition entry, 2012)[38]

• Pedagogy of poetics of architecture in contemporary Georgia. Astra Salvensis, 8(15), pp. 61-74.
• Contemporary Georgian Architectural Theory and Practice: The legacy of Shota Bostanashvili. ACE: Architecture, City and Environment, 15(43), 9019.
• Universal design: from design philosophy to applied science. Journal of Accessibility and Design for All, 10(1), pp. 70-97.
• Philosophical approaches to urbanism: A way for urban planning and design education. Современные проблемы в строительстве: постановка задач и пути их решения, Kursk, 22-24 May 2019, pp. 10-17.
• Building Science and Professional Ethics in Nineteenth Century Ecclesiastical Architecture in Malta. Terra Sebus. Acta Musei Sabesiensis, 10, pp. 413-424.
• From Poetics to Metapoetics: Architecture towards architecture. Balkan Journal of Philosophy, 10(2), pp. 103-114.
• Defining Architecture: A qualitative research. Annual of the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy Sofia, 51(1), pp. 59-66.
• Architecture, Values and Perception: Between rhetoric and reality. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 7(1), pp. 92-99.
• The realisation of the Rotunda of Mosta, Malta: Grognet, Fergusson and the Episcopal objection. European Journal of Science and Theology, 14(4), pp. 203-213.
• Petrological characteristics of blue lenticular patches occurring in the Lower Globigerina building limestone of Malta. Revista Română de Materiale/Romanian Journal of Materials, 48(1), pp. 115-120.
• Social Media: Third-person perceptions on architecture. Urbanism. Arhitectură. Construcţii, 9(3), pp. 265-272.
• Beyond Geodesign: The architecture of sitesynthesis. Journal of Applied Engineering Sciences, 7(2), pp. 17-24.
• Cartographic representations in early eighteenth century Baroque Malta. Geographia Technica, 12(1), pp. 1-8.
• Landscape Restoration and Rehabilitation: A Geocultural Design Approach. International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, 8(3), pp. 174-181.
• Limestone Cladding: The case of Modernist Architecture of London. Historia Urbana, 25, pp. 261-276.
• Portland Stone and the Architectural History of London: an overview. Mesto a Dejiny - The City and History, 6(1), pp. 33-47.
• Tackling Sustainability from a Systemic Perspective: A Contextualized Approach. Problemy Ekorozwoju - Problems of Sustainable Development, 12(1), pp. 31-39.
• Shota Bostanashvili, architectural discourse and the foundation of poetics of architecture in Georgia. Papers of BAS: Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(1), pp. 49-59.
• Sustainable architectural design of the central Mediterranean, International Conference for Sustainable Design of the Built Environment (SDBE 2017), 20-21 December 2017, pp. 447-458.
• Housing and Resettlement of Young Offenders: The Case for a Cross-Government Action Plan for Malta. Varstvoslovje, Journal of Criminal Justice and Security, 18(4), pp. 438-450.
• In Defence of Baroque: The Wolfflin-Frankl-Giedion Tradition. The Journal of Baroque Studies, 1(4), pp. 5-20.
• Participatory Engagement in Urban Design Process: The Case of an Urban Settlement in Malta. Spatium, 35, pp. 71-78.
• Rural and Urban Vernacular Architecture of the Mediterranean: A Source for Contemporary, Contextual, Architectural Design Solutions, The 5th Electronic International Interdisciplinary Conference, August, 8-12 2016,
• Prefabrication, Aesthetics and the Welfare State: The Case for the Post-War British Public Schools. Malta Review of Educational Research, 7(1), pp. 73-88.
• ‘The Urban Container’. In Shooting Society, Edited by Carmel Borg and Raphael Vella, Midsea Books, Malta, 2012.
• Архитектура и политика: Ceгашно състояние и бъдещо развитие на политиката на планиране на гр. София (Architecture and Politics: Contemporary and future planning policies for Sofia). Sofia: University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, 2011, 54 pp.
• The Contemporary Urban Planning Framework in Bulgaria. Id-Dritt, 21, pp. 303-328.
• The Ring Metaphor and the Spirit of Sofia. Melita Theologica, 61(1), pp. 27-44.
• Valletta: A City in History. Melita Theologica, 60(2), pp. 3-20.
• Roman Architectural Practice and the Funding of Public Buildings. Malta Archaeological Review, 8, pp. 18-24.
• Malta: housing and real estate, 1980-2005. Architectural Design, 76, pp. 76-81.
• Masonry and the Modernist Ethic. The Masonry Society Journal, 18(2), pp. 95-99.
• Development briefs and development planning in Malta. Bank of Valletta Review, 19, pp. 68-86.
• Geocultural activity in seventeenth and eighteenth century Malta. GeoJournal, 48(4), pp. 337-340.
• Limestone in post-war British architecture: is it a plea for a return to Pugin? Melita Theologica, 49(2), pp. 71-80.
• Hegel's notion of gothic architecture. Melita Theologica, 47(1), pp. 3-15.

• Petrological, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the Globigerina limestone outcropping at Fomm ir-Riħ, Malta. Comptes rendus de l'Academie Bulgare des Sciences, 73(7), pp. 985-991.
• A geohistorical retrospective analysis of cultural heritage buildings: the case of Mosta Dome. Malta. GeoJournal, 84(2), pp. 291-302.
• Importance of optical microscopic investigation in provenance studies and quality characteristics of both historical and natural Lower Globigerina building limestone of Malta. Review of the Bulgarian Geological Society, 79(3), pp. 93-94.
• Bio-retexturing in limestone used in the built heritage of Malta. Romanian Reports in Physics, 69(4), 802.
• Limestone replacement in restoration: the case of the church of Santa Maria (Birkirkara, Malta). International Journal of Conservation Science, 8(2), pp. 167-176.
• Mineralogy and geochemistry of blue patches occurring in the globigerina limestone formation used in the architecture of the Maltese islands. Comptes rendus de l'Academie Bulgare des Sciences, 70(4), pp. 537-544.
• Techniques to determine the provenance of limestone used in Neolithic architecture of Malta. Romanian Journal of Physics, 62(1-2), 901.
• The industrial minerals of the Maltese islands: a general introduction. Hyphen, 7(3), pp. 111-118.

• Celebrating the legacy of Cyril and Methodius with special reference to historical iconography, Office of the President, Malta, 2017.
• Celebrating the legacy of Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of culture and education, Office of the President, Malta, 2016.
• Daniel Callus, a Maltese Dominican scholar at Oxford. Journal of Maltese History, 6(1), pp. 90-100.
• Presentation of a Bulgarian icon to the Head of State of Malta: History in the making. Проблеми на изкуството (Art Studies Quarterly), 51(2), pp. 55-57.
• J.H. Newman's The Dream of Gerontius and Karm Scerri. Journal of Maltese History, 5(1), pp. 83-91.
• The unity of courage and wisdom in Plato's Protagoras. Philosophia: E-Journal of Philosophy and Culture, 11, pp. 1-7.
• Theology applied to music: the dream of Gerontius revisited. The Elgar Society Journal, 19(5), pp. 26-34.
• Pyrotechnics as sustainable intangible heritage, Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on Fireworks, 23-27 April 2012, pp. 43-56. 50.
• The Mediterranean Environment within a Human Rights Context: Towards the emergence of Mediterranean environmental human rights law and the implementation of an effective enforcement machinery therefor. Co-edited with Kevin Aquilina. Special issue of the Mediterranean Journal of Human Rights, 14(1), pp. 13-33.
• The significance of gift exchange in the Maltese Islands. Insula-The International Journal of Island Affairs, 9(1), pp. 65-67.
• Buddhist Syllogistic Theory. Melita Theologica, 49(1), pp. 3-18.