Still working after all these years: Mario Botta turns 80

Mario Botta speaks at the inauguration of one of his latest works, the FORTYSEVEN thermal spa in Baden, Switzerland, on November 18, 2021. Ennio Leanza/Keystone

After a career spanning 60 years, designing churches, spas, museums and casinos, the Swiss-Italian master continues to build and dreaming about architecture.

The world-famous Swiss architect turns 80 on April 1, but retirement is out of question. Mario Botta is still absorbed in big projects. In September he will inaugurate the Space Eye  – a complex with Switzerland’s biggest telescope, a planetarium and exhibition centre at the Observatory of Space and Environment in the Gantrisch nature park, near Bern.

Meanwhile, he’s still working on the new university campus of the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang, China, a project he has been trying to complete for over a decade.

Botta doesn’t take holidays. Architecture is “a profession that allows me to age well, as long as I keep a critical consciousness”, he recently told the Swiss daily 24 heures. 

Born in 1943 in Mendrisio, canton Ticino, Botta studied in Venice where he had the opportunity to work in the studio of the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier, regarded as one of the pioneers of modern architecture. He was also part of Louis Kahn’s circle, another influential American modernist architect. With such an auspicious start, and powerful references, Botta could have gone on to develop his career elsewhere in Europe or the United States. Instead, he decided to open his own studio in Mendrisio in 1969.

The influence of these two masters is still visible in Botta’s style of simple, geometric forms; brick is his favourite material. Although his works include homes, spas, universities and theatres, Botta is usually referred to as the contemporary religious architect par excellence.

Canton Ticino is the site of some of his churches and the monumental casino in Campione, a tiny Italian enclave in the southern Swiss canton. His churches can also be found in Italy. And we should not forget the Cymbalista Synagogue in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. These projects impress by their late modernist designs, but they also embrace the past, paying respect to the specific site and the elements – both material and immaterial.

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Evry Cathedral, or Cathedrale de la Resurrection d’Evry, built in 1992-95, Evry, France. AFP

View of the Banca del Gottardo bank in Lugano in southern Switzerland, built in 1982-1988. Keystone

Exterior view of the Tata Consultancy Services offices in Hyderabad, India, which hosts mainly Indian IT firms. Lukas Lehmann/Keystone

The 13-floor casino in Campione, an Italian enclave, in the Swiss canton of Ticino. It is not only the largest building in the village of 2,700 inhabitants but also the main employer. The 50-metre-high building is designed to accommodate 3,100 guests in various casino rooms. It is one of Italy’s oldest casinos and also the largest in Europe. Karl Mathis/Keystone

The Church of the Holy Face (Chiesa del Santo Volto) in Turin, Italy, was built in 2000-2006. AFP

The Petra Winery in Suvereto in southern Tuscany, Italy. Keystone

The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo was built in 1990. Keystone

The Dortmund city and state library in Germany was built in 1995-1999. Keystone

Exterior view of the original facade of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) by Mario Botta (brick), which was expanded by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta (white background). The museum opened to the public on May 14, 2016 after being closed for three years for renovations. Keystone

Interior of the chapel of Chiesa San Giovanni Battista in Mogno, canton Ticino, Switzerland. Built between 1986-1996. Keystone

Inside the Tinguely Museum, Basel, Switzerland. Built between 1993-1996. Keystone

The Business Center Bellinzona (left) was built in 1997 originally for the telephone operator Swisscom. The large brick building now houses a business centre with conference and seminar rooms and is partly the seat of the National Criminal Court. Keystone

The mountain restaurant “Steinblume”, or Fiore di pietra, on Monte Generoso in canton Ticino, Switzerland. Keystone

The Mineralbad & Spa Rigi Kaltbad thermal baths, located at 1,500 metres above sea level. Thedi Suter/Keystone

Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli just below Monte Tamaro in canton Ticino, Switzerland. Built between 1990 – 1996. Keystone

Sales building of Harting Deutschland GmbH in Minden, Germany. Built between 1999-2001. Keystone

One of the latest Botta buildings: the FORTYSEVEN thermal wellness centre in Baden, Switzerland, opened in November 2021. Ennio Leanza/Keystone

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Botta has developed a set of principles to define his architecture. The site comes first when thinking about the construction. “The territory is an integral part of the project and never an incidental element,” he says. Second is the importance of light, which “generates space, provides emphasis and rhythm, defines the space and creates balance in the structure”.

His preferred use of natural materials and geometry brings him closer to another Swiss architecture giant, Peter Zumthor. But Botta goes much further when it comes to the importance of respect for the past and the ethical purpose of architecture. The aim, he says, should be to “offer good quality living values as opposed to merely aesthetic images. The search for a better quality of life is ongoing through the search for a better space for life”.

Parallel to his projects, he has also played an important role as an educator. Besides being a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and a visiting scholar at Yale School of Architecture in the US, Botta was a driving force in the setting up of the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio in 1996. He designed the school’s first programme, where he lectured for many years before becoming the academy’s dean.

Mario Botta designed the Ferrari stand for the 10th edition of Exposauto racing car show in Lugano (November 21, 1987). Karl Mathis/Keystone

Ephemeral works

Last year two of his projects in Switzerland were badly damaged. In June several of the steps of the majestic Moron Tower in the village of Malleray in the Bernese Jura region fell apart. Then in September his high-altitude restaurant above Glacier 3000 at Les Diablerets in French-speaking canton Vaud, was destroyed by fire.

Both these incidents came as “a surprise” for Botta, who pointed to the ephemeral nature of all human achievements. ”Architecture is very fragile, much more fragile than we imagine,” he declared.