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Mario Botta details La Scala makeover for the NYT

2023-05-02T19:33:00-04:00

The work has been about creating a dialogue between the 18th century and modernity. This theater was born as a space to create dreams, illusions, adventures. It’s still a place of collective imagination. But to effectively make it work today, it needed to be much more flexible and capable than what existed in the 1700s. It had run out of space to perform effectively. We’ve created a series of elements designed to make the theater function for the 2000s.

The Swiss architect began his two-phase restoration in January 2002. It has been the subject of controversy since that time, owing to its scale and derivation from the city council tender approvals process. The project highlights the delicate line between preservation and the ambits of a figure such as Botta, whose deference to the past has always been expressed in materials such as terra cotta and Botticino marble.

To that score, Botta says his approach to design has evolved to be a sort of commentary on the "confrontation between times [...] A collage of different language," adding we’ve "lost the capacity to express the true value of architecture."

"I find that architecture is always a sacred act, because it transforms nature and it represents our entire world," he states at the end of the NYT interview. "The architecture of sacred spaces is very close to the architecture of theaters or museums. You’re trying to create a type of value and strength. You’re attempting to embody a ...

Exploring the spiritual architecture of Swiss architect Mario Botta

2019-03-29T20:00:00-04:00

The spiritual architecture of Swiss architect Mario Botta is the subject of an exhibition at the Ringturm Exhibition Centre in Vienna. Building studies, drawings, and photography are brought side by side to reach an understanding of how Botta conceptualizes and designs religious experiences through the built environment.

Religious places of worship often prompt a sense of reverence and deep reflection. For some these sacred buildings provide peace, and for others perhaps a bit of anxiety. Nonetheless, Swiss architect Mario Botta has designed and completed 22 religious buildings during his 50-year career as an architect. His first religious architectural project was a chapel at the Bigorio Capuchin monastery in 1966. Since then, Botta's spiritual spaces of worship have made a broad reach internationally, especially in Europe. Currently, three new religious buildings are under construction in China and Seoul.

Church San Giovanni Battista in Mogno, Switzerland. Image © Enrico Cano

Chapel Santa Maria Degli Angeli in Mount Tamaro, Switzerland. Image © Mario Botta Architetti

Kirche Papst Johannes XXIII designed by Mario Botta. Image © Enrico Cano

Throughout his career, Botta has designed synagogues, Catholic churches, and mosques. With this spectrum of open creative application Botta designs each building ...

Archinect's critical round-up of Snøhetta's SFMOMA addition

2016-05-04T13:19:00-04:00

While not open to the public until May 14, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has officially unveiled its completed redesign to the press: a massive, iceberg-like addition by Snøhetta, conjoined to the original Mario Botta pomo building.

The redesign is a boon to exhibition space in the museum: Snøhetta's 235,000-square-foot expansion more than doubles the space of the original building, and allows for "art-filled free-to-the-public galleries". In total, that amounts to more gallery space than what the eastern-coast's MoMA has. While much of Botta's original building was left more or less the same, the staircase in the entrance atrium was adapted by Snøhetta to adjust to a projected increase in visitor traffic.

Julia Ingalls attended the press preview; look for her take later this week. Meanwhile, here's what the other critics are saying:

Christopher Hawthorne for the Los Angeles Times is at once pleased by Snøhetta's design and disappointed by the new museum writ large:

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