Sacral Spaces
March 19–May 31, 2019
Premiere at the Ringturm: as part of its Architektur im Ringturm series, Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein is staging the first ever comprehensive exhibition focusing on Mario Botta to be held in the German-speaking countries.
Swiss-born Botta was one of the key figures behind “new Ticino architecture” in the 1970s. Over the past five decades he has designed more than 100 structures all over the world—including a family home in Switzerland, libraries in Dortmund and Beijing, banks in Athens and a museum in San Francisco.
In a life devoted to architecture, religious buildings have been his passion, and his works include chapels and churches in Italy, Switzerland and France, as well as a synagogue in Israel. Two more sacred buildings—a mosque on China’s border with Mongolia and a Catholic church near Seoul in South Korea—are currently under construction.
Wiener Städtische Versicherungverein’s exhibition centres on the acclaimed international architect’s designs for religious spaces, and presents a striking cross-section of the Swiss “church builder’s” oeuvre. The show also highlights Botta’s professional development over the decades, as he seized the opportunity to work in a variety of different landscapes.
Visitors who step into the Ticino maestro’s “sacred world” at the Ringturm will find traces of some of the great masters of modernism—from Le Corbusier and Kahn to Michelucci and Scarpa—all of whom influenced Mario Botta’s style.
