Mario Botta (born 1 April 1943) is a Swiss architect.

Career

Botta designed his first building, a two-family house at

Morbio Superiore Morbio Superiore was a municipality in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland in the hills above Chiasso. It is located in the district of Mendrisio. On 25 October 2009 the municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Muggio a ...

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, at age 16. He graduated from the

Università Iuav di Venezia Iuav University of Venice ( it, Università Iuav di Venezia) is a university in Venice, Italy. It was founded in 1926 as the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia as one of the first Architecture schools in Italy. The university curren ...

(1969). While the arrangements of spaces in this structure is inconsistent, its relationship to its site, separation of living from service spaces, and deep window recesses echo of what would become his stark, strong, towering style. His designs tend to include a strong sense of geometry, often being based on very simple shapes, yet creating unique volumes of space. His buildings are often made of brick, yet his use of material is wide, varied, and often unique. His trademark style can be seen widely in Switzerland particularly the

region and also in the Mediatheque in

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after ...

(1988), a cathedral in Évry (1995), and the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and wa ...

or SFMOMA (1994). He also designed the

Europa-Park Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Paris. Europa-Park is located in Rust, Baden-Württemberg, Rust, south-western Germany, between Freiburg im Breisgau and Strasbo ...

Dome, which houses many major events at the Europa-Park theme park resort in Germany. Religious works by Botta, including the

Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center is a cultural center and the main synagogue of Tel Aviv University. It was designed in 1996 by architect Mario Botta and constructed from 1997 to 1998. The patrons and namesakes were Paulette ...

were shown in London at the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

in an exhibition entitled, ''Architetture del Sacro: Prayers in Stone.'' “A church is the place, par excellence, of architecture,” he said in an interview with architectural historian Judith Dupré. “When you enter a church, you already are part of what has transpired and will transpire there. The church is a house that puts a believer in a dimension where he or she is the protagonist. The sacred directly lives in the collective. Man becomes a participant in a church, even if he never says anything.” In 1998, he designed the new bus station for

Vimercate Vimercate (; lmo, label= Brianzöö, Vimercaa ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Monza and Brianza, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is from Milan and from Monza. Its name (whose first finding dates back to the year 745) derives fro ...

(near Milan), a red brick building linked to many facilities, underlining the city's recent development. He worked at La Scala's theatre renovation, which proved controversial as preservationists feared that historic details would be lost. In 2004, he designed Museum One of the

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art is a museum in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea, run by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. It consists of two parts that house traditional Korean art and contemporary art. Museum 1 is designed by Swis ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. On January 1, 2006 he received the Grand Officer award from

President of the Italian Republic President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born i ...

. In 2006, he designed his first ever spa, the Bergoase Spa in

Arosa , neighboring_municipalities= Alvaneu, Davos, Langwies, Lantsch/Lenz, Molinis, Peist, Schmitten, Tschiertschen, Vaz/Obervaz, Wiesen , twintowns = Fukumitsu (Japan) Arosa is a town and a municipality in the Plessur Region in the canton o ...

, Switzerland. The spa opened in December 2006 and cost an estimated CHF 35 million. Mario Botta participated in the

Stock Exchange of Visions {{Unreferenced, date=August 2007 The Stock Exchange of Visions is a project initiated in 2006 by Fabrica, Benetton's research center. It gathers visionaries from diverse nationalities and cultures, who hail from a wide range of specialties, to prov ...

project in 2007. He was a member of the Jury of the Global Holcim Awards in 2012. In 2014, he was awarded with the Prize Javier Carvajal by the Universidad de Navarra.

Gallery

File:Casa_parrocchiale_Genestrerio.jpg, First construction of Mario Botta 1961–1963. Parish house in Genestrerio File:Mogno.jpg, Church of St. John the Baptist in the Swiss town of

Mogno Mogno is a village in Vallemaggia District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. Mogno is situated near the top of Val Lavizzara, a valley through which the upper Maggia river flows. Formerly part of the municipality of Fusio, which merged with ...

File:1 Evry Cathedral.jpg, Évry Cathedral in Évry, France File:2 Evry Cathedral.jpg, Facade of Évry Cathedral (photo by

Pino Musi Pino Musi (born March 18, 1958 in Salerno, Italy) is an Italian photographer and visual artist currently based in Paris. His subjects have included modern architecture, classical ruins, steel mills, rural architecture and urban cityscapes viewe ...

) File:3 Evry Cathedral.jpg, Évry Cathedral from the northwest File:4 Evry Cathedral.jpg, Interior of Évry Cathedral File:Bellinzona Fernmeldedirektion detail.jpg, Swisscom telecommunication headquarters in

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

File:Harting Minden.jpg, Harting Technologiegruppe headquarters in Minden File:Maastricht2013, Avenue Céramique01.jpg, La Fortezza building,

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, the Netherlands File:Watarium.jpg,

Watari Museum of Contemporary Art The , commonly referred to as Watari-um, is a museum of contemporary art located in Shibuya, Tokyo. Founded by Shizuko Watari and opened in 1990, the museum is near Gaienmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. The institution promotes concep ...

in Shibuya-ku,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan File:San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2011.jpg,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

File: Casinò di Campione, day1.jpg, Casinò di Campione in

Campione d'Italia Campione d'Italia ( Comasco: , ) is a ''comune'' of the Province of Como in the Lombardy region of Italy and an enclave surrounded by the Swiss canton of Ticino (it is also an exclave). At its closest, the enclave is less than from the rest ...

File:BechtlerMuseumCharlotte.jpg, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

File:StLB Dortmund.jpg, Stadt- und Landesbibliothek (Central library) in Dortmund File:Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli 01.jpg, Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli on Monte Tamaro File:Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli 02.jpg, Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli on Monte Tamaro File:Cymbalista Synagogue 01.jpg, Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

, Israel

References

Sources

Markus Breitschmid Markus Breitschmid (born 20 April 1966, Lucerne, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American architectural theoretician and the author of several books on contemporary architecture and philosophical aesthetics. His most highly regarded books are ''Der bauen ...

(ed.), ''Architecture and the Ambient – Mario Botta''. Architectura et Ars Series, Volume 2, Virginia Tech Architecture Publications, 2013.

External links

*
Official website
* *
2007 Interview with Mario Botta in The Leaf Review

Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Mario Botta (Video Interviews)
* ttp://www.galinsky.com/buildings/montetamaro/ Santa Maria degli Angeli Monte Tamarobr>Mario Botta Architecture on Google mapsMario Botta. To be an architect, free online course on FutureLearn.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Botta, Mario 20th-century Swiss architects 21st-century Swiss architects Modernist architects Postmodern architects 01 1943 births Living people Architects from Ticino People from Mendrisio Members of the Académie d'architecture Ratzinger Prize laureates