Botta, Mario (1943)
October 23, 2009 | In: Architectural History
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Mario Botta’s reputation is international, his architecture is both modern and contemporary. Christian Norberg Schultz writes that he infuses his buildings with a strong sense of place and meaning (Botta, 1984).
Born in an area of Switzerland near the Italian border (Mendrisio, Ticino), Botta’s first experience with architecture was an apprenticeship in the architectural firm of Carloni and Camenisch in Lugano. He left this office to attain further education at the Art College in Milan and the University Institute of Architecture in Venice. He was directed in his studies by Carlo Scarpa and Giuseppe Mazzariol, and had the opportunity to meet and work with Le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn.
Beginning his own private practice in 1970, Botta found distinction with his designs for houses, museums, and churches near Ticino. Several of his most recent and celebrated projects include: Theatre and Cultural Center André Malraux, Chambéry, France (1987); SFMOMA Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (1995); Kyobo Tower, Seoul (2003); and Office building Tata CS, New Delhi (2003). Botta has been honored with awards such as the Merit Award for Excellence in Design by the American Institute of Architects.
Botta likens his sketches to fragments of a large mosaic of possible designs, from early concepts to the final details. They are the notes throughout the process, traces of particular solutions, and messages to help find conclusions. For Botta, sketches are the memories involving intuitions and alterations behind a definitive design.
Botta clearly maintains a constant dialogue with his sketches. This image is a sketch for the Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Centre in Tel Aviv. The organization of the project was to consider two spaces of equal size and importance, a synagogue and a lecture hall. On the campus of Tel Aviv University, these two spaces, expressed on the exterior by two towers, speak of a combination of the religious and the secular. On the plan are many changes and corrections that reveal how Botta responded to the information the sketch provided. The rectangular shape has been divided into symmetrical spaces. Many faint lines extend across the plan to indicate either elements above or guidelines for the proportions of the parti. One can imagine how he visualized the space as he walked through the sketch. Doors have been indicated with arrows for their movement, and walls are given their thickness through many parallel marks. As he drew the plan, Botta was acutely aware of the towers and their placement above, sketching them lightly over their locations.
The two perspectives to the right of the page demonstrate how easily Botta moved between the plan and the rendering of volume. As variations for the exterior, the three-dimensional sketches illustrate how a plan can be interpreted in different ways. He recognized the need to move between the two types of drawing conventions. It also shows how he was thinking, trying something in plan and evaluating the ramifications with perspectives.
This sketch represents not the first thoughts, but the development of an idea. Beginning with the clear program of two towers, Botta was able to refine and visualize the design with this sketch. Although not an exact replica of the finished building, the concept developed here shows through in the final outcome.
