STUDIO
Mario Botta
Born in Mendrisio, Ticino, on April 1, 1943. After an apprenticeship in Lugano, he first attends the Art College in Milan and then studies at the University Institute of Architecture in Venice. Directed by Carlo Scarpa and Giuseppe Mazzariol he receives his professional degree in 1969. While studying in Venice, he has the opportunity to meet and work for Le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn.
Botta’s professional career begins in 1970 in Lugano. Known for his single-family houses in Ticino, his work encompasses many other building types including schools, banks, administration buildings, libraries, museums and sacred buildings. Along his work he teaches extensively in giving lectures, seminars and courses in architectural schools in Europe, Asia, North- and South America.
Since the beginning of his career, his work has been recognized internationally and honored with prestigious awards, besides being presented in numerous exhibitions and publications. In 1996, he is one of the founders of the Academy of architecture of the Università della Svizzera Italiana in Mendrisio, where he still teaches and held the directorship.
His steady professional and educational commitment, his role as chairman of the award jury of the BSI Architectural Foundation and his current involvement in the realization of the Theatre of architecture, allow him to impart his knowledge of a profession that is, first and foremost, his passion.
In 2011, the practice MARIO BOTTA ARCHITETTI moved to Mendrisio, where it continues to be involved in national and international projects and in important competitions.
Biographical note
| 1943 |
Born in Switzerland, Mendrisio, on 1 April |
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| 1949-1958 |
Primary and secondary schools in Genestrerio and Mendrisio |
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| 1958-1961 |
Draughtsman apprenticeship at Carloni and Camenisch architects in Lugano |
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| 1961-1964 |
Art College in Milan |
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| 1964-1969 |
Studi all’Istituto Universitario di Architettura IUAV a Venezia |
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| 1965 |
Practical work in the atelier of Le Corbusier in Venice |
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| 1969 |
Encounter and collaboration with Louis I. Kahn in Venice
Degree at the IUAV, Venice; his supervisors were Carlo Scarpa and Giuseppe Mazzariol |
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| 1969 |
Beginning of his own architect's activity in Lugano |
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| 1976 |
Visiting professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne |
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| 1987 |
Visiting professor at the Yale School of Architecture New Haven, Connecticut |
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| 1982-1987 |
Member of the Swiss Federal Commission of Art |
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| since 1983 |
Nominated Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne |
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| 1996 |
On the occasion of the constitution of the University of the Italian Switzerland, he works out the program for the new Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio. |
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| 2002 |
Dean of the Academy of architecture in Mendrisio for the academic year 2002/03 |
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| since 2005 |
President of the Fondazione Museo dell’Architettura, (now Fondazione Teatro dell’architettura). The Theatre of architecture will be a new instrument for the promotion of the cultural debate on architecture. Its activity will be strictly related to that of the Academy of architecture in Mendrisio but it will be also focused on the territory.
The new space will open in 2018 and will play host to important cultural events. |
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| since 2008 |
President of the jury BSI Architectural Award |
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| 2011 |
Dean of the Academy of architecture in Mendrisio for the academic years 2011/13 |
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| since 2011 |
Move of the practice Mario Botta Architetti to Mendrisio |