No Botta without Kahn & Scarpa...

For those of you who followed the previous two articles about Louis Kahn and Carlo Scarpa, thank you. Now let me take you to Mario Botta. A world class Architect in his own right. Many of his "architectural gems" are near Lugano, Switzerland, and I was fortunate enough to visit and walk through them in the 80's. Such a big fan I was that I even followed Mr. Botta all the way to the University of Architecture in Genoa to assist to one of his workshops. A real treat!

Essentially Modernist in approach, Mario Botta has been strongly influenced by both Carlo Scarpa and Louis Kahn. Although his later works increasingly accept existing forms and styles as the starting point of design, Botta still adheres to a philosophy of historical determinism in which architecture acts as a mirror of its times.

Botta's works characteristically show respect for topographical conditions and regional sensibilities and his designs generally emphasize craftsmanship and geometric order. Because he attempts to reconcile traditional architectural symbolism with the aesthetic rules of the Modern Movement, Botta is often identified with the Italian neo-rationalist group, the Tendenaz.

Botta built exclusively in Switzerland during his early career, gaining international acclaim for such buildings as the Capuchin convent in Lugano, the Craft Centre in Balerna and the Administration Building for the Staatsbank in Fribourg.

Since the second half of the 1970s, his houses have become more classical in plan and elevation, and in the 1980's he has secured international commissions such as the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, California.