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Maîtres of design
With his work, Mario Botta not only expresses the high standard of design applied to architecture, furniture and design. He also expresses a vocation for diversity, the territory’s resources and the use of materials linked to the culture of craftsmanship. His experience in liturgical furnishing and design provide an authoritative reference point for this particular field, which is experiencing renewed interest in both art and architecture. UGO LA PIETRA You are known for your consistency, your love of materials and the outstanding quality of your architecture, the same values that you transfer to the objects and furnishings you design. What is your position, as a designer and planner, when it comes to material culture, to handcrafted goods and craftsmanship in general? MARIO BOTTA As an architect, I feel that today the attention devoted to materials is not simply determined by a linguistic issue – the form of expression – but also by an attitude that sets itself against the cultural trends brought about by globalization. Matter is not just a technical instrument; it also represents our history and memory, the connection to our great past. The craftsman is the link, inasmuch as it provides continuity to this heritage. U.L.P. The Roman Catholic Curia is dedicating a great deal of renewed attention to its ecclesiastical buildings, not only as places of worship and meditation, but also in terms of the distinctive elements that characterise their interiors: objects, decorations and furnishings. Elements that have probably not been explored enough by the design culture. In what way have you developed the relationship between interior and exterior? Could you give us a few examples? M.B. In an architectural space that possesses symbolic and metaphorical values, the furnishings evidently play an important role, because they merge tradition and the more domestic aspects of everyday life. For this reason, I believe that the concept of “interior-exterior” should be treated as an interchangeable value, without the discontinuity that is evident in recent cases. In my projects I always concentrate on highlighting the “structural” characteristics of the architectural object: gravity, light, structural limits. My aim is to express these concepts using an essential language; this also applies to liturgical objects and furnishings, which I have also designed in the past. One of the many possible examples I can give you concerns the altar: until a couple of decades ago, its function was interpreted in the sense of the Latin “mensa”, whereas nowadays it is regarded more as an “ara”, a sacrificial altar. This calls for even greater stylistic rigorousness. Other examples can be seen in pews and pulpits: their design is more “prosaic” but at the same time they must communicate the great craftsmanship we have inherited from our past. U.L.P. In your opinion, should religious furnishings reflect the differences
between Churches, not only in terms of their architectural structure but also of their congregations? M.B. I think this distinction is unnecessary; the nature of ecclesiastical furnishings is to be interchangeable, their style depends on the style of the moment or on the cultures that use them. On the other hand, since the architectural structure is a unicum, the context must be integrated in the design. U.L.P. The attention you pay to design and the use of materials still reflects your working methodology, an approach confirmed in the armchair you recently designed for the Aldo Morelato Foundation, made by Morelato srl. Can you tell me more about it? M.B. Designing a chair reflects the constant need to reinterpret the objects we use every day. Even though we already have millions of chairs, some of which are very beautiful and of outstanding quality, we still have an urge to design new ones. I believe it is a way to represent our time, our awareness and, paradoxically, to survive our consumerist culture and passing vogues. In the “Morelato” chair, the skills and tradition of this company emerge: contemporary laminar wood is a product of the past but also of the new technologies. I wanted to create an image that could raise emotions and, why not, even a smile.
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ENRICO CANO
ALTARS, PEWS AND AMBONS TELL THE STORY OF OUR CULTURE OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
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