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MARIO BOTTA

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MARIO BOTTAhis biography

Mario Botta was born in Mendrisio on April 1, 1943. He attended primary school at Genestrerio and secondary school at Mendrisio. At age 15, Mario Botta quit school and became a draftsman in the architectural studio of Carloni and Camenish in Lugano, Switzerland. In 1961, Mario Botta left the Carloni and Camenish office to attend art college in Milan, Italy. After graduation, Mario Botta journeyed to Venice to enroll at the "most sophisticated and least technical of the Italian architectural schools," the Instituto Universitario di Architettura (IUA). Mario Botta remained in Venice from 1964 to 1969; during those years, Mario Botta was able to make contact with three giants of the architectural world Le Corbusier (1965), Louis Kahn (1969) and Carlo Scarpa who was one of his teachers and his thesis professor. He opened his own practice in Lugano, Switzerland in 1970. Mario Botta's career has spanned more than two busy decades; in addition to his practice, Mario Botta has served as a visiting professor at the Ecole Polytechnic Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the past ten years. In 1982, Mario Botta was made a member of the Commission Federale Svizzera delle Belle Arti, and in 1983, became an honorary fellow of the Bund Deutscher Architeckten (BDA). The American Institute of Architects (AIA) conferred honorary fellowship upon Mario Botta in 1984. Today, Mario Botta continues his active lecturing in Europe. North America, and Latin America.

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MARIO BOTTAHis philosophy.

His designs tend to include a strong sense of geometry, often being based on very simple shapes, yet creating unique volumes of space.His ideas were influenced by Le Corbusier, Louis I. Kahn, Carlo Scarpa. His works characteristically show respect for topographical conditions and regional sensibilities. He still adheres to a philosophy of historical determinism in which architecture acts as a mirror of its times.I believe that today making architecture is a way of resisting the loss of identity, a way of resisting the banalization, the flattening of culture brought about by the consumerism so typical of modern society. In this sense, architecture is more an ethical than an aesthetic phenomenon." Mario bottaHis material is masonry, not glass or steel, and he uses it to create buildings that are firm, self-assured essays in geometry.He is more concerned with interacting with nature and the landscape rather than technology and mechanization. "Every architectural work has its own environment...The first action involved in doing architecture is the consideration of its territory". His designs are modernist in approach.Marked by the extraordinary use of natural light, his works feature skylights and generous heights that create expansive interiors, while strong block-like forms and contrasting materials result in powerful facades.

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MARIO BOTTAHis work

San fransisco museum of modern art, california

It opened in 1935 under founding director Dr. Grace Morley (Grace L. McCann Morley, Director from 19351958) as the San Francisco Museum of Art, the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art. For its first sixty years, the museum occupied upper floors of the War Memorial Veterans Building in the Civic Center .Under director Henry T. Hopkins (19741986) the museum added "Modern" to its title in 1975, and established an international reputation.In a major transformation and expansion, in 1995 the museum moved to its current location, 151 Third Street , adjacent to Yerba Buena Gardens in the SOMA district and its iconic architectural showpiece facility designed by Mario Botta. Inviting comparison to the preeminent Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City ,the museum re-branded itself "SFMOMA".

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MARIO BOTTAHis work

This monumental building was Swiss architect Mario Botta's first commission in the United States. Like many of his buildings, it illustrates his interest in the circle and the square. The structure is comprised of stepped-back boxes and a truncated striped cylindrical tower.

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MARIO BOTTAHis work

Textured brickwork is a trademark of Botta's style. Here the brickwork patterns differ on each of the stepped facades. Botta also avoids conventional windows (except at the entrance). Here a window strip slices through the cylinder and moves down to the lower facade.

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MARIO BOTTAHis work..

The zebra stripes of gray and black granite, so prominent in the tower, are repeated at the sides of the entrance and in the entrance columns and piers.

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MARIO BOTTAHis work..The atriumGalleries are grouped around this central open space. At its highest point a steel bridge crosses the atrium.

The building is flooded with natural light and offers generous open spaces. The full-height central atrium court illuminated by the skylit cylinder and crossed by a steel skybridge is a key feature of the interior space. In addition, the skylit roofs offer generous natural light to many galleries.

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His work.

Brilliant architectural detail of Mario Botta, The Granite Stairs are reflected by the bronze pattern in the ceiling. The walls, with alternating strips of polished and rough marble produce a beautiful modulating pattern of light and reflection.

Bottas building for SFMOMA derives its power from many sources: the masterly orchestration of pure geometric form on a grand scale, the integration of plain materials such as brick and sheetrock with the richer textures of stone and marble, and the subtle workings of light in elegant, well-proportioned galleries. From the exterior, the signature element is the truncated, zebra-striped cylinder that rises out of the red brick base. This turret is topped with a sloped glass skylight, creating a glowing lantern at night and providing daylight into the heart of the building by day.

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MARIO BOTTAHis work

The symmetry is unyielding, the axes are never violated; it is in essence a symmetrical donut. The public space of the atrium is the donut hole, and the monumental stairs make clear how to move between levels. The donut itself is four floors of gallery space, all above the main floor. After making a circuit on a floor, one is conveniently returned to the atrium and the monumental stair, ready to move to another level.

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MARIO BOTTAHIS WORKS..

Residence in riva san vitale, ticino, switzerlandResidence in cadenazzo, switzerland School in morbio inferiore, switzerlandMunicipal and state libraryS. Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist), Mogno, Switzerland Casa Rotonda - Haus MediciSanta Maria degli Angeli Chapel, Monte Tamaro, SwitzerlandCardada Cableway, Ticino, SwitzerlandMuseum Tinguely Solitude Park, Basel, SwitzerlandBus Terminal, Lugano, SwitzerlandUnited bank of switzerland, basel, switzerland

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