Alberto La Ferla

After graduating, La Ferla worked in the architectural studio of Enrico Del Debbio in Rome, architect of the Stadio dei Marmi and Foro Mussolini.

Laferla suggested to demolish the Third Valletta City Gate to replace it with a wider one, "masculine and stern" (“maschia e severa”), in line with the surrounding bastions, to "recall the achievements of the Great Siege and immortalise in stone and marble the glorious Order of the Knights of Malta".

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.

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.

"[5]At the start of World War II, La Ferla was interned as an italophile, but instead of being exiled to Uganda he was detained at the St Agatha camp in Rabat.