My Architecture. The Orionist Monastery Parish Center in Lviv
Mario Botta
Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, SwitzerlandNovember 4, 2013
Center for Urban History, Lviv
The main task of architecture is not the placing of one stone on another, but the placement of stone on the earth, and thus transforming what is natural into what is cultural. Mario Botta believes that architecture is a type of priestly office, in the sense that it is a type of people work. Even the poorest of homes has its history, its dignity, its moral code, providing witness to its past, its memories, and of a person’s most deeply held desires. In a fragile society there is a need which buildings fulfill, a symbolic meaning far greater than the structure’s technical and functional purpose. They may serve as the impetus for the transformation of the material components all around us. During the lecture, special attention was given to Mario Botta’s project for the parish center for Lviv’s Orionist Monastic Order.
The lecture was initiated by the Orionist Monastic Order with additional support from the Center for Urban History and GIZ.
The lecture was conducted in Italian, with simultaneous interpretation in Ukrainian. Moderator for the session was Andriy Shulyar.
Mario Botta
is among the most celebrated architects of our time, known the world over. He was born in Switzerland in 1943. His academic career began with his admission to the Università Iuav di Venezia studying architecture. In 1976 he was appointed as a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, and in 1987 to the Yale School of Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. From 1982 until 1987 he was a member of the Swiss Federal Arts Commission. In recent years, he has served as the creative inspiration and founder of the new Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio (Switzerland) where he is currently a full professor and faculty chair.