Mario Botta Exclusive Interview for CyberEmpathy

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 7/2013. Visual Stategies Kseniya Bilychkevskaya, Marika Ika Wato, Mario Botta! Exclusive interview for CyberEmpathy

Kseniya Bilychkevskaya, Marika Ika Wato

Mario Botta! Exclusive Interview for CyberEmpathy Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

Abstract: November 4, 2013 the Center for Urban History hosted a public lecture by architect Mario Botta entitled, "My Architecture. The Orionist Monastery Parish Center in Lviv". The CyberEmpathic Team was there to interview the poet of architecture.

CyberEmpathy: Have you ever drawn the inspiration from the architecture of medieval castles? I mean in particular the projects of the late twentieth century, the examples of the residential architecture such as: Single-family house in Ligornetto, Ticino, Switzerland , 1975-1976 or Casa Bianchi Riva San Vitale - Ticino CH 1971-1973. In my opinion, they are rooted in their formal structure to the monolithic, simple architecture of medieval castles straight from the east regions of England.

Mario Botta: I love much the Middle Ages, I believe that the form of medieval society synthesis is extraordinary: synthesis of the local but also www.CyberEmpathy.com

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 7/2013. Visual Stategies Kseniya Bilychkevskaya, Marika Ika Wato, Mario Botta! Exclusive interview for CyberEmpathy the global. The Middle Ages can be recognized worldwide. I like the Romanesque style the most among different ways of expression: the feeling of heaviness, weight, strength, power. In this respect, I suppose that architecture bears the idea of gravity, weight. Any architecture organizes the power to pass onto the ground. The ground is a p art bof architectural structures. The architecture is not a structure that can be moved somewhere, it belongs to a particular place. In other words, the architecture is an activity that builds the place. So the location is an essential part of the architectural structure. There is no architecture without the context, without the territory it becomes just a pile of stones on the ground. In my opinion, the key element of architecture in general is that it is involved in the place where it was built, not as a sculpture which could be placed anywhere.

In my projects (Single familyhouseinLigornetto, Ticino, Switzerland, 1975 1 976 or CasaBianchi RivaSanVitale - TicinoCH 1971 – 1973) I haven’t directly addressed the image of castle or fortress, but my intention was to implement the idea of the family life protection.

Left: Longthorpe Tower, England, 1425; Right: Casa Bianchi Riva San Vitale

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 7/2013. Visual Stategies Kseniya Bilychkevskaya, Marika Ika Wato, Mario Botta! Exclusive interview for CyberEmpathy

Left: Bunraty Castle, England, 1425; right: Mario Botta, Single-family house in Ligornetto, Ticino, Switzerland, 1975-1976 CE: What role does the sketching play in your creative process?

Starting the drawing do you have the ready idea of form, or rather it is shaped during the creation of the first drawings.

M.B.: I often note out that architecture expression belongs to the pencil, not the head. Occasionally, I work on the projects, in this case I tell myself: this time I will do a project without any distinct geometric shape. I work and work, then the geometry comes to me. It is stronger than me. Strong geometry provides the quality to space, which is originally created by the light. If we turn off the light, the space will disappear. I'm trying to work with the light from the zenith, so I use geometry to find the balance. This balance provides the quality to space. If one can tell at the first glance what this is - this is the most of the architectural talent.

CE: The architectural theorists often classify your works as a postmodern. Do you consider yourself a postmodernist now?

M.B.: I am not a postmodernist, I'm post-antique man. After all, when I work, it’s completely unnecessary to think of myself as a postmodernist, post-antique rationalist. The critics need these things, not the person who performs, so I prefer to take a pencil, to ask questions to the city and to try to create the sense. To me, my architecture is also a sum of signs and images, because architecture is a formal solution to the story. Geometry is sacred, it has a golden sections, the magic number.

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 7/2013. Visual Stategies Kseniya Bilychkevskaya, Marika Ika Wato, Mario Botta! Exclusive interview for CyberEmpathy As I design much in old European cities, my style is the answer to the problem of modern times, as a combination of the ancient and the future.

Keeping in mind that the world is ruled by globalization, the search for personal identity in the architecture is very important; people must feel their identity to a particular place, a particular landscape. Post-antique means I see the world in its entirety, but look at it through a historical filter.

Some people think, when you're a great creator, you think about the future, but this is not true, you think about a great past.

CE: The tree theme often appears in your projects. Does it play a symbolic role? Or is it only the formal addition?

M.B.: The use of wood is rather formal. However, in the next 20 years I will be thinking about whether it really was an accident (he laughs).

CE: As a student of the interior design, I would like to ask you, what do you think about the relation between the interior and exterior architecture? How should this relation be properly shaped? Can the interior designer create in an organic way a continuum of the environment in the interior without interfering with the body of the building as such?

M.B.: The basic project developing stage for me is to determine the global benchmarks. They are primarily measured by me in order to people safely navigate in space. Such as the wind and the sun. They help the human not to feel confused, as if in a maze. Because the maze is the opposite to the concept of the building; architecture allows a person to move freely.

Therefore, the main connection between the inside and the outside is light and how it fills the space. Light generates a dark interior space, gives it the coordinates, focuses on a particular subject that the architect wants to emphasize. The next step is the desire for order. Your inner space must carry peace through an orderly internal balance.

CE: How would you describe the message of your architectural projects now? I have the impression that they express some general idea, the universal sense. Is this idea with you from the beginning of the creative process, or is it a side effect of exploration of the formal solutions?

M.B.: Architecture is a matter of the possible, not the dreams. I started working early, without reaching solid theoretical basis, but only in the www.CyberEmpathy.com

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 7/2013. Visual Stategies Kseniya Bilychkevskaya, Marika Ika Wato, Mario Botta! Exclusive interview for CyberEmpathy process of building you begin to feel the idea. Those, who study the history of art after have learned the art of building can better understand not only the philosophical aspects, but also those associated with the work. I had the same story: I began to build intuitively and eventually was able to truly understand the essence deeper

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