18. M. Botta.pdf

MARIO BOTTA Architecture of Emotions

MARIO BOTTA

Architecture of Emotions

Samsung Museum of Art, detail 2

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(music by L. van Beethoven) 3

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• Mario Botta, contemporary

architect, lives in Ticino, a small canton in southern Switzerland, in an extraordinarly beautiful landscape separated by the Alps from the rest of Switzerland. This area reflects Switzerland’s peculiar situation: politically it is Swiss, yet culturally it is Italian. Two natures that cohabit together. Botta’s own personality reflects the same characteristic: two souls in one... 4

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Architecture of Emotions

• M. Botta was born in Mendrisio in

1943. He attended primary school in Genestrerio (Mendrisio) and secondary school in Mendrisio. At the age of 15 he quit school and became a draftsman in the architectural studio of Carloni & Camenish in Lugano, Switzerland. After three years he became an apprentice and was given his 1st important project. 5

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• The excitment and enthusiasm with

which he developed and completed this 1st project, the Parish House in Genestrerio, never left him. He felt he had found his way: he would become a professional architect. In fact, in 1961, Botta left the Carloni & Camenish studio to attended the Art College in Milan.

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• He describes himself as an external

student who did not attend classes but prepared his lessons alone, then sat for the final examinations at school. In 1964 after graduation, Botta moved to Venice to join the “most sophisticated and least technical of the Italian architectural schools”: the Istituto Universitario di Architettura (IUA). 7

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• He remained in Venice till 1969 and

during these years, through a combination of good luck and perseverance, he 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 at University and his thesis professor.

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• Le Corbusier for Botta represents “the

History of Architecture”. Le Corbusier left to the young student the basis of a very “ordered” architecture and the notion that the profession of the architect is to assist society. Botta joined Le Corbusier’s studio for six months and collaborated with him for the project of a new hospital in Venice. Unfortunately it will never be completed: Le Corbusier will suddenly die a few months later. 9

MARIO BOTTA Le Corbusier: Ronchamp’s chapel (1955)

Le Corbusier will also teach M. Botta to go beyond the traditional rules and forms of architecture, to try and create an “architecture of emotions”.

Mario Botta:Tschuggen Hotel (2006) 10

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• In 1969, Botta had the opportunity to meet Louis Kahn who was in Venice to install the exhibition of his project for a new Congress Building in the Palazzo Ducale. Though the two architects had difficulties with language, Kahn’s ability to distill any architectural issue to its essence and his ability to clearly define the purpose and the depth of a problem etched a permanent impression on Botta. 11

MARIO BOTTA L. KAHN: Bangladesh Parliament building (1983)

L. Kahn will show M. Botta to relate to an architecture made of true, deep meaningful forms. A strong, powerful kind of architecture able to express truth and honesty.

M. BOTTA: Liceo Scientifico, Città della Pieve (1997) 12

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• Not only it was possible to ask

Kahn’s famous question “What does the building want to be?”, but in his contact with Kahn, Botta found the answer: “It is not what you want, it is what you sense in the order of things which tells you what to design”.

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• Carlo Scarpa, Botta’s teacher and

thesis professor, showed him the “innovations of modern architecture” and a deep “attention to materials”. In particular the Italian architect imparted to his pupil his intense love for composition, order, and towards the differences among the materials. And how an architect can play with the different “natures” of each single material. 14

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C.Scarpa, Olivetti Showroom,Venice (1958) 15

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C.Scarpa, Olivetti Showroom, interior 16

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C.Scarpa, Olivetti Showroom, interior 17

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C.Scarpa, Olivetti Showroom, interior 18

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Architecture of Emotions C. Scarpa’s sensitivity toward the understanding of the materials’ structure and his concern for detailing materials intelligently gave Botta a philosophical direction and an appreciation for even the most common materials that has since characterized all of his built work. 19

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Museum of Modern Art, S. Francisco, 1995 20

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St. John church,Ticino, Switzerland, 1996 21

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• After graduating from the IUA in

1969, Botta returned to Switzerland to work as a professional architect opening a studio in Lugano. In the 1970s his projects were maily related to single-family houses. The most important commissions, however, started to come from the early 1980s: the Bank of Gottardo ( Lugano), St. John church ( Ticino), the Mart (Rovereto), the Moma ( S. Francisco) are only some of the most famous ones. 22

MARIO BOTTA Major Artworks

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Bank of Gottardo, Lugano (1982-88) 24

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Bank of Gottardo, Lugano (1982-88) 25

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• The Bank of Gottardo is

Botta’s first important project of the 1980s. It is evident, in the monumentality of the blocks, Louis Kahn’s influence. This will remain one of Botta’s main characteristics in relation to his formal art language.

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• The massive structures lead

to huge entrance rooms, each one having a different function: bank branches, a restaurant for the clerks and the clients, an art gallery with the Gottardo’s collection.

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Bank of Gottardo, interior (1982-88) 28

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Bank of Gottardo, interior (1982-88) 29

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St. John the Baptist church,Ticino (1996) 30

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St. John the Baptist church,Ticino (1996) 31

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• The project for the church of St. John the Baptist was commissioned to Botta after the terrible avalanche in the Maggia valley (Ticino) in 1986. This destroyed part of the village Mogno-Fusio and the old church (17th century a. C.).

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• The main idea at the base of

Botta’s project for the church of St. John the Baptist refers to the relationship between the human work and the immense force of nature.

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• Botta used two main

geometric forms for the plan: the ellipse and the circle. The ellipse symbolizes the human anxieties, whereas the circle represents the certainty of God, of religion.

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St. John the Baptist church, interior (1996) 35

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St. John the Baptist church, interior (1996) 36

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St. John the Baptist church, interior (1996) 37

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St. John the Baptist church, interior (1996) 38

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St. John the Baptist church,Ticino (1996) 39

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Museum of Modern Art, S. Francisco (1995) 40

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Museum of Modern Art, S. Francisco, sketch 41

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The project expresses the semplicity and complexity of a “gesture”, by the architect, able to define an autonomous presence in the city and, at the same time, to create a major focal point.

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The location of the museum, next to three tall buildings, made Botta decide to choose a strong, very comunicative structure. 43

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The Swiss architect refused to use the typical building materials like glass, iron and concrete, and prefered to use ancient types of materials such as the brick and the stone. 44

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Museum of Modern Art, S. Francisco (1995) 45

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Museum of Modern Art, interior (1995) 46

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Museum of Modern Art, interior (1995) 47

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Museum of Modern Art, interior (1995) 48

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Museum of Modern Art, S. Francisco (1995) 49

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Museum of Modern Art, rooftop 50

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Museum of Modern Art, rooftop 51

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Museum of Modern Art, rooftop 52

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Museum of Modern Art, rooftop 53

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Moma, rooftop, Jensen Architects (2010) 54

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Architecture of Emotions Moma’s rooftop is an open air gallery defined by the intersection of sculpture, space and light. An installation of sculptures ranges from the artistic giants, Henry Moore and Alexander Calder, to a new generation of sculptors, like Ranjani Shettar.

Museum of Modern Art, rooftop 55

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Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Rovereto (2002) 56

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Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Rovereto (2002) 57

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The building realized for the Mart was built in a period of time of more than 10 years. The contest was wan by Botta in 1988 but the works started only in 1997... 58

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The building is monumental and sober at the same time. It is formed by a big squared volume with a round square at the centre. This represents the major attraction of the whole project, especially the round water tank at the centre. 59

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The impact that the viewer receives when he enters in the big round square is deep. The sensation is similar to a theater set, in which the visitor himself feels to be a protagonist of a show. The protagonist of a huge work of art. 60

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If the visitor is lucky enough to visit the Mart in a beautiful sunny day, he will be able to admire the striking, suggestive light effects created by the glass/ steel dome... 61

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Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Rovereto 62

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Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Rovereto 63

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The round square is like a modern “agorà”: an “open” space thought for people to meet together in total harmony and total freedom. 64

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Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2004) 65

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Samsung Museum of Art is located very close to Itaewon. Housed in a three-story building with two underground levels, the collection includes traditional art, national art treasures, modern art, and international art. Its two buildings include Museum 1, which is designed by Mario Botta and Museum 2 which is designed by Jean Nouvel. 66

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Samsung Museum of Art, interior 67

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Samsung Museum of Art, interior 68

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, Switzerland (2006) 69

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, Switzerland (2006) 70

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center (2006) 71

MARIO BOTTA Designer

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Certainly today Botta’s fame is very much related to his architectural works. However his contribute in industrial design is one of the major ones. 73

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“Popup” chair, 2006 74

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Architecture and Design 75

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Architecture and Design 76

Architecture

MARIO BOTTA & Design

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Architecture and Design 78

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MARIO BOTTA Interior Designer

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Werner Oechslin Library Eisiedeln, Switzerland, 2006 81

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Werner Oechslin Library Eisiedeln, Switzerland, 2006 82

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• It all started decades ago when the

young historian of art and architecture Werner Oechslin gradually brought back to Einsiedeln from his many research expeditions so many books that all the walls of his private house became progressively full of books from floor to ceiling. Today the collection numbers far beyond 50,000 volumes. Oechslin desired a library that could accommodate his collection with the same meticulous care with which he had gathered it through the years. 83

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• Oechslin together with the famous

architect M. Botta, thought of a library in which the presentation of the volumes could resemble the one of a monastery library (not surprising on a site that is directly in line with the façade of the Einsiedeln monastery). In addition to the books, a multitude of allusions from the history of civilisation, images, busts and quotations, describe what the library attempts to be: a place that aims to promote thought and discussion. 84

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Werner Oechslin Library, 2006 85

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Werner Oechslin Library, 2006 86

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Architecture of Emotions The interior, with its mobile spiral staircase for the books on the upper floor, has an almost sacred gracefulness. In the centre of the room at the back: the dying Laocoon from Homer’s Trojan Wars. It represents the risks associated with the search for truth. 87

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Werner Oechslin Library, 2006 88

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Werner Oechslin Library, 2006 89

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• The Library intends to realize this state of being “systematically ordered”,which helps reveal the collection’s inner content directly to its users. The books are arranged in such a way that they communicate to the reader not only their own presence, as individual publications, but rather, through their order and integration, also the related books of their immediate proximity. The content of the library should be immediately evident as a whole and in its parts. Knowledge is no longer separated but networked and, befitting a library of cultural history, is presented as a complete entity. 91

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Werner Oechslin Library, 2006 92

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, Switzerland (2006) 94

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, Switzerland (2006) 95

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, Switzerland (2006) 96

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, interior 97

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, interior 98

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, interior 99

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, interior 100

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Tschuggen Hotel Wellness Center, interior 101

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“To build is a sacred act: an action that transforms a condition of nature into a condition of culture”. M. Botta 102