Mario Botta (b. 1943)
Essential architecture, radical geometry, and design with a structural soul

Mario Botta is one of the most prominent contemporary Swiss architects and a key figure in 20th-century design. Born in Mendrisio, Switzerland, in 1943, he trained as a technical draftsman before studying at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV), where he was taught by Carlo Scarpa and Giuseppe Mazzariol, and collaborated with Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn—two major influences on his architectural thinking.

His architecture, known for its geometric rigor, expressive use of materials, and constant search for spatial transcendence, has taken shape in iconic projects such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Évry Cathedral in France, and the Cymbalista Synagogue in Tel Aviv. Botta’s work is defined by pure and forceful forms—circles, cylinders, squares—that integrate sensitively into the landscape or urban fabric, while conveying a strong symbolic dimension.

His foray into furniture design stems from the same constructive logic that defines his buildings: the need to create objects that converse with their surroundings without losing sculptural autonomy. Starting in the 1980s, Mario Botta collaborated with companies such as Alias, Artemide, and Skipper, designing pieces that show a direct connection between form, function, and structure. Examples include the Seconda chair (1982), with its cylindrical backrest and perforated metal seat, and the Prima lounge chair—both conceived as inhabitable micro-architectures.

Botta approaches furniture as an extension of both the body and architecture: sober, graphic objects marked by a controlled tension between brutalism and refinement. His visual language—severe yet elegant, austere yet humane—has influenced generations of designers who view his work as the perfect synthesis of constructive logic and aesthetic emotion.