MARIO BOTTA, A VIRTUAL EXPLORATION
by Michelle Bienias
"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 Botta, from Stuart Wrede. Mario Botta. p67.
Mario Botta, arguably the most famous living Swiss architect, worked as an assistant to both Le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn. Some of Kahn’s influence can be seen in his design of the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, his first American commission. Until then, Botta worked exclusively in Switzerland and gained international acclaim for the Capuchin convent in Lugano, the Craft Centre in Balerna and the Administration Building for the Staatsbank in Fribourg.
Essentially modernist in approach (with PostModern elements), Botta’s buildings are often based on simple geometric forms, such as the cylinder and the cube, while respecting topographical conditions and regional sensibilities. He is more concerned with interacting with nature and the landscape rather than technology and mechanization. Botta states that "Every architectural work has its own environment...The first action involved in doing architecture is the consideration of its territory".
Bus Terminal, Lugano, Switzerland, 2001-02
 Commissioned by the city of Lugano, the bus terminal canopy changes color according to the season (blue, white, pink and violet).
S. Giovanni Battista (St. John the Baptist), Mogno, Switzerland 1995
This church lies in the tiny village of Mogno. The original church was destroyed in an avalanche in 1986 and rebuilt by Botta, as a present to the village.
Santa Maria degli Angeli Chapel, Monte Tamaro, Switzerland, 1992-96
This stone and concrete fortress-like structure lies atop a mountain, 1600 meters above sea level, near the town of Lugano in southern Switzerland, and is accessible by cable car. It was commissioned by the owner of the cableway, Egidio Cattaneo, as a tribute to his late wife. Botta collaborated with artist Enzo Cucchi, who painted the beautiful frescos inside, one of which is 70 meters long, to create this renowned masterpiece. Villi Hermann, who directed a film on this project, cites the “affinities between the primitivism of Cucchi’s paintings and Botta’s architecture” as integral to the project’s success.
The structure consists of three elements: a cylindrical volume, a viaduct walkway and a smaller, stepped bridge. The steps form the ceiling of the chapel, located directly below.
Museum Tinguely, Solitude Park, Basel, Switzerland, 1994-96
Dedicated to the artist, Jean Tinguely, who died in 1991, it was a gift from F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. to the city of Basel to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the company. The rectangular museum, comprised of four elevations, occupies the entire east side of Solitude Park, on the right bank of the Rhine.
Cardada Cableway, Ticino, Switzerland, 2000.
The new Orselina-Cardada-Cimetta aerial cableway takes visitors up Mount Cardada (1,332 m above sea level), in southern Switzerland, and has been in operation since April 2000. Botta designed the chairlift station, resembling a translucent lantern, the pavilion at the top of the mountain and the tear-drop shaped cable car.
Email: michelle@webidentity.com
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