HomeArchitectureThe Theatre of Architecture by Mario Botta in Mendrisio

The Theatre of Architecture by Mario Botta in Mendrisio

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To offer an instrument for the promotion of the cultural debate on architecture was the driving force behind the efforts of the Università della Svizzera italiana and the Theatre of Architecture Foundation to establish a new building, the Theatre of Architecture, designed  by Mario Botta Architetti on the campus of the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio. 

The Theatre of Architecture aims to be an instrument to strengthen reflection on the discipline and, at the same time, to highlight the new transdisciplinary interests that are increasingly affecting the planning process and redefining the social role of architecture. 

According to the architects, the building (it has a round plan with three floors above ground and two floors underground) recalls the ancient type of the anatomical theatre: the spaces on the main four levels (approx. 2000 sqm) lend themselves to a wide range of uses for both concomitant and independent events and all the events will be open to the public. 

In conclusion, the new Theatre of Architecture, as the first one of its kind, will represent the new identity of the school: a laboratory of ideas and events, a place of experimentation, a contemporary instrument that will act as a seismograph capable of recording and conveying ongoing trends.