Mario Botta

Designed his first house at age 16, although no-one mentions if it was built. Studied at the Liceo Artistico in Milan and the Istituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice. His ideas were influenced by Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa[?], Louis Kahn. He opened his own practice in 1970 in Lugano.

His style is stark, strong, and geometric; his buildings are often made of brick. His trademark style can be seen widely in Switzerland and also in the Mediatheque in Villeurbanne (1988), a cathedral near Evry (1995), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art or SFMoMA (1994).