THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Portrait of Mario Botta by Lukas Wassmann.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Portrait of Mario Botta by Lukas Wassmann.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

House in Breganzona, Switzerland. Photo by Pino Musi.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Riva San Vitale in Ticino, Switzerland. Photo by Alo Zanetta.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Watari-um Contemporary Art Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Pino Musi.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Church of San Giovanni Battista in Mogno, Switzerland. Photo by Enrico Cano.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Cymbalista Synagogue in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo by Pino Musi.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Chapel Garnet in Penkenjoch, Austria. Photo by Enrico Cano.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Portrait of Mario Botta by Lukas Wassmann.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Portrait of Mario Botta by Lukas Wassmann.

THE PIN–UP QUOTE: MARIO BOTTA

Minimalist architecture is of interest to me, even if I am myself a maximalist. I believe in the idea that architecture holds gravity and weight, and that it makes you feel the soil. There is no architecture that doesn’t pass on its weight to the earth. Architecture takes possession of the ground. It’s a simple idea, but simplicity and gravity are very important to me. This tells man that architecture is the artifact of other men, that it behaves differently from the sun, or vegetation.

Architecture is always a comparison between man’s rational thought and nature. Architecture is the discipline of transforming the natural state into a cultural one. From this perspective, I feel legitimate in using rationality — mathematics, geometry — as the basis of my architectural approach. By doing this, the comparative difference with nature is strongest, and the dialogue between nature and culture will also be strongest. I cannot conceive of an architecture that imitates nature: architecture is nature’s other. This is the ethos of my language in design.

Taken from an interview by Carson Chan in PIN–UP 17, Spring Summer 2014.

Portraits by Lukas Wassmann. Other photos by Enrico Cano, Pino Musi, and Alo Zanetta.