Mario Botta

Mario Botta (April 1, 1943) is an architect born in Mendrisio, canton of Ticino, Switzerland.

He designed his first house at the age of 16, although it is unknown if it was built. He studied at the Artistic Lyceum in Milan and at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura (IUAV) in Venice where he graduated with Carlo Scarpa. His ideas were influenced by Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn, with whom he had the opportunity to work during his stay in Venice. He opened his own office in 1970 in Lugano.

His style is strong and geometric, with symmetrical plants hollowed out to allow passage. His buildings combine heavy walls (concrete, brick) with light steel and glass structures. His buildings are scattered throughout Switzerland, particularly in the canton of Ticino. He is also the author of the Médiathèque de Villeurbanne (1988), the Évry Cathedral (1995) and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1995). Among his first works, the Rotonda house in Stabio stands out, cylindrical and built with concrete bricks, with a very compact appearance. A large slit splits the cylinder and allows the passage of light to the depths of it.

Since 1996 he has taught at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio of the University of Italian Switzerland.

Buildings made

1959/1970

• Casa unifamiliar Morbio Superiore (Switzerland) (1959)
• Parish house (in collaboration with Tita Carloni) Genestrerio (Switzerland) (1961)
• Single House Stabio (Switzerland) (1965/1967)
• Chapel of the monastery of Santa Maria (in collaboration with Tita Carloni) Bigorio (Switzerland) (1966)

1971/1980

• Casa unifamiliar Cadenazzo (Switzerland) (1971)
• Casa unifamiliar Riva San Vitale (Switzerland) (1971/73)
• Morbio Inferiore, Switzerland (1972/1977)
• Meeting room, Monastrero di Santa Maria Bigorio (Switzerland) (1973)
• Library of the Lugano Capuchin Convent (1976/1979)
• Palestra Pública Balerna (Switzerland) (1976/1977)
• Restructuring and completing a Ligrignano (Switzerland) cascina (1977/1978)
• Balerna (Switzerland) (1977/1979)
• Bank of the State Fribourg (Switzerland) (1977/1982)
• Detached house Pregassona (Switzerland) (1979/1980)
• Single House Massagno (Switzerland) (1979/1981)
• Casa unifamiliar Viganello (Switzerland) (1980/1981)
• Single-family house Stabio (Switzerland) (1980/1982)

1981/1985

• Casa unifamiliar Origlio (Switzerland) (1981/1982)
• Administrative building Ransila I Lugano (Switzerland) (1981/1985)
• Headquarters of the Bank of Gottardo Lugano (Switzerland) (1982/1988)
• Casa de la Cultura André Malraux Chambéry (France) (1984/1987)
• Public library - Maison du Livre, de l'Image et du SonVilleurbanne (France) (1984/1988)
• Residential complex in the former area Venchi-Unica Turin (Italy) (1984/1987)
• Watari-um Tokyo Art Gallery (1985/1990)
• Palace per appartamenti ed uffici - Palazzo Botta Lugano (Switzerland) (1985/1990)
• Administrative building “Ransila II” Lugano (Switzerland) (1985/1991)
• Lützowplatz residential building (in collaboration with Bendoraitis, Gurt & Messer) Berlin (1985/1991)

1986/1990

• Casa unifamiliar Cavigliano (Switzerland) (1986/1989)
• Casa unifamiliar Vacallo (Switzerland) (1986/1989)
• House for two families Daro (Switzerland) (1986/1991)
• Residential and commercial complex "I 5 Continenti" Paradiso (Switzerland) (1986/1992)
• Administrative building "Caimato" Lugano (Switzerland) (1986/1993)
• Main Building of the Swiss Banking Union (in collaboration with Burkhandt und Partner) Basel
• Church of San Giovanni Battista (Mogno) (Switzerland) (1986/1998)
• Riqualificazione di Piazza della Pace Parma (Italy) (1986/1992)
• Casa unifamiliar Losone (Switzerland) (1987/1989)
• Casa unifamiliar Manno (Switzerland) (1987/1990)
• Chiesa del Beato Odorico (in collaboration with Piero Beltrame) Pordenone (Italy) (1987/1992)
• Tomba di famiglia Lugano (Switzerland) (1987/1992)
• Church of the SS. Pietro e Paolo (in collaboration with Fabiano Redaelli) Sartirana di Merate (Italy) (1987/1996)
• Uffici and residence Bellinzona (Switzerland) (1988/1991)
• Residential site (in collaboration with Ferruccio Robbiani) Novazzano (Switzerland) (1988/1997)
• Centro Commercial Le Torri, Firenze, Italy (1988/1992)
• Évry Cathedral, France (1988/1995)
• Kyobo Tower in Seoul (South Korea) (1989/2003)
• Residential complex (in collaboration with Luciano and Mario Gemin) Castelfranco Veneto (Italy) (1988/1997)
• Swisscom Bellinzona (Switzerland) Building (1988-1998)
• Museo de Arte de Rovereto y Trento (MART) (in collaboration with Giulio Andreolli) Rovereto, Italy, (1988/2002)
• Casa unifamiliar Daro (Switzerland) (1989/1992)
• Casa unifamiliar Cologny (Switzerland) (1989/1993)
• Casa unifamiliar Montagnola (Switzerland) (1989/1994)
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (in collaboration with Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum) (USA) (1989-1995)
• Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli Monte Tamaro (Switzerland) (1990/1996)
• Headquarters of the newspaper "La Provincia" (in collaboration with Giorgio Orsini) Como (Italy) (1990/1997)
• Tenero Sports Centre, Switzerland (1990/2000)
• Uffici e abitazioni “La Fortezza”, Maastricht (1990/1999)
• Nuevo Casinò (in collaboration with Giorgio Orsini) Campione d'Italia (Italy) (1990/2006)

1991/1996

• Itinerant shop of the seven hundredth anniversary of the Confederazione Elvetica (or tends "di Botta") Bellinzona (Switzerland) (1991)
• Industrial complex Verbania (Italy) (1991)
• Administrative building (in collaboration with Fabiano Redaelli) Merate (Italy) (1991/1997)
• Residential complex (in collaboration with Fabiano Redaelli) Bernareggio (Italy) (1991/1997)
• Commercial and residential center "Piazzale alla Valle" Mendrisio (Switzerland) (1991/1998)
• Residential complex Monte Carasso (Switzerland) (1992-1996)
• Casa per anziani, Novazzano (Switzerland) (1992-1998)
• Shopping centre (in collaboration with Fabiano Redaelli) Merate (Italy) (1992/1998)
• Friedrich Durrenmatt Neuchâtel (Switzerland) (1992-2000)
• Detached house (in collaboration with Fabiano Redaelli) Bernareggio (Italy) (1993/1999)
• Scientific literature (in collaboration with Giorgio Orsini) Città della Pieve (Italy) (1993/2000)
• Piotta (Switzerland) (1993/1998)
• Barriere antirumore autostradali Chiasso (Switzerland) (1993/2004)
• Restoration and expansion of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia Venice (Italy) (1993/2003)
• Tinguely Museum, Basel, Switzerland (1993/1996)
• Church Pope Giovanni XXIII Seriate Italy (1994/2004);
• Museum all'aria aperta "Arca di Noah" Jerusalem (1995/2001)
• Leeum - Museum of Art Samsung Seoul (1995/2004);
• Single House Muzzano (Switzerland) (1995/1997)
• Entrance to the garden of the tarot de Niki de Saint Phalle (in collaboration with Roberto Aureli) Garavicchio (Italy) (1995/1997)
• Dortmund Municipal Library (1995/1998)
• Restructuring of the Vela Ligornetto Museum (Switzerland) (1995/2001)
• Monument Summit of the Americas (in collaboration with Luis Fernández de Cordova) Santa Cruz de La Sierra, Bolivia (1996)
• Synagogue Cymbalista e centro dell'eredità ebraica Israel, (1996/1998)
• uffici New Delhi (1996/2003)

1997/2000

• New imianto funivia Cardada-Locarno (Switzerland) (1997/2000)
• New headquarters of the Greek National Bank (in collaboration with Irena Sakellaridou e Morpho Papanikolaou) Atene, Greece (1998/2001)
• Königsberg, Germania (1998/1999)
• Belvedere Moron (Switzerland) (1998/2004)
• Rediseño de la facade de la Iglesia Genestrerio (Switzerland) (1998/2004)
• Residential Complex Deventer Olanda(1998/2004)
• Martin Bodmer Foundation - Library and Museum in Cologny, Switzerland, (1998/2003)
• Azzano Chapel of Seravezza (Italy) (1999/2000)
• Uffici Harting Minden (Germany) (1999/2001)
• Cantina Petra in Suvereto (Toscana), Italy (1999/2003);
• New wing of the Faculty of Giurisprudenza of the University of the studies of Trento (in collaboration with Emilio Pizzi) Trento (Italy) (1999/2006)
• New parrocchia of the Holy Turin Volto (Italy) (2000/2006)

2001/2005

• Società di assicurazioni "Ethniki" Athens (2001/2006);
• Pensilina TPL, Lugano Bus Terminal (2001/2002)
• Ristrutturazione e ampliamento del Teatro de La Scala Milan (2002/2004)
• Marconi square and terminal delle autolinee to Vimercate (Italy) (2003)
• Redefinition of the Segrate Station (Italy) area (2003)
• Wellness Centre Bergoase Arosa (Switzerland) (2003/2006)
• Civic Library A. Tiraboschi in Bergamo (2004)
• Villa unifamiliar Bernareggio (Italy) (2004)
• Center for Thalassotherapy Spotorno (Italy) (2004/in course of realization)
• Gallarate residential building (Italy) (2005/10)
• Recovery Ex Aree ABB Lodi (Italy) (2005/in the course of realization)
• Rosà State Children ' s School (Italy) (2004)

2006/2010

• Werner Oechslin Library - Library privata di architettura Einsiedeln (Switzerland) (2006)
• New directional headquarters and Campari Museum and residenze (in collaboration with arch. Pierluigi Marzorati) Sesto San Giovanni (Italy) (2006/2009)
• Risystemzione chiostro interior di palazzo Crepadona (opera detta "cubo di Botta") Belluno (Italy) (2007)
• Stazioni Poggioreale e Tribunale della Linea 1 della Metropolitana Naples (Italy) (2007/in the course of realization)
• Phoenix Island Villa Condo & Club House, Seogwipo-si, Korea (2007)
• Masterplan Sarzana (Italy) (2007/in the course of realization)
• New Ospedale Civil (in collaboration with N.F.H.P. and Studio Redaelli) Vimercate (Italy) (2007/2010)
• Church of Santa Maria Nuova to Terranuova Bracciolini Italy (2007/in the course of realization)
• MiNEC (Milan North-East Centre), Vimodrone Italy (2008)
• Headquarters of ANCE Lecco (Italy) (2008)
• New Didactic Complex for Biomedicine Padova (2008/in the course of realization)
• Monumental complex San Paolo, Fontana del Museo Cívico, Monselice (Italy) (2009)
• Cantina Château Faugères, Saint Emilion (France) (2009)
• Caldora Tower, Pescara (Italy) (2009-ferma)
• Redefinition of Piazza Mazzini Modena (2009/in the course of realization)
• Expansion of Tenero National Sports Centre (Switzerland) (2009/ ongoing)
• "Cittadella delle Istituzioni" nell'Area Appiani in Treviso, Italy (2010)
• Recovery degli ex Magazzini Generali Verona (2010/ in progress)
• falegnameria dell'OTAF Sorengo (Switzerland) (issued in 2013)