• Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI)

Mario Botta: To Be an Architect

Find out what it means to be an architect in a meeting with Mario Botta.

3,278 enrolled on this course

Mario Botta: to be an architect
  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    4 hours

What does it mean to be an architect today?

Get an introduction to the architecture of Mario Botta - one of the most famous contemporary architects - with this online course from USI Università della Svizzera italiana.

You’ll explore the relationship between architecture and geography, sacred architecture and restoration, and the correlation between architecture and the other arts.

You’ll also analyse some of Mario Botta’s famous works, as well as the training model for Architecture students as it was conceived and developed in the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, one of the faculty of USI.

Skip to 0 minutes and 12 seconds Teaching is done not only, nor primarily through long discourses, but through sharing experiences, knowledge and values. Thanks to that, one learns not only what a professional should know and how should behave, but also what does it mean to be an expert. This is particularly true about architecture. This MOOC will guide you in a reflection on the very meaning of being an architect. The MOOC is based on an interview with the famous architect Mario Botta, who is also the founder of the Academy of Architecture of USI (Università della Svizzera italiana) in Mendrisio.

Skip to 0 minutes and 52 seconds I’ve got several opportunities to meet Mario Botta, especially when he was the director of the Academy of Architecture, and I was the Dean of the Faculty of Communication science. I always appreciated his capacity to listen to the place and to its history, and to reconcile every activity which is done by an architect to the very fundamental act of putting a stone on the ground. This MOOC was born as a conversation we had with Mario Botta in his office, together with several eLearning Lab members discussing the very nature of being an architect. It is with great pleasure that the Academy of Architecture offers this online course in order to promote a careful reflection on architecture.

Skip to 1 minute and 36 seconds Access to the course will be granted from February 19, 2018, coinciding with the opening of the Theatre of Architecture in Mendrisio, one of the most recent works of architect Mario Botta.

What topics will you cover?

  • What does it mean to be an architect?
  • Architecture and geography: the city, house and collectivity, the example of Venice
  • Sacred architecture and restoration
  • Architecture and the other arts
  • Architecture, design and textiles
  • Mario Botta and his masters
  • Works of Mario Botta: the “Stone flower” on the Monte Generoso
  • Works of Mario Botta: the Academy of Architecture and the Theatre of Architecture in Mendrisio as examples of a humanistic approach to architecture

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Develop critical thinking about some basic concepts in architecture
  • Identify the relationships among architecture and other arts and disciplines
  • Describe the architect’s work
  • Explain the relationship between the concepts of living, city and collectivity
  • Develop a personal conception of the architect's work based on Mario Botta’s approach
  • Describe the philosophy of the foundation of the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio and of some other works by Mario Botta
  • Reflect on what does it mean to "build" an architect
  • Identify some of the most important works of Mario Botta
  • Reflect on a humanistic approach to architecture
  • Reflect on contemporary architecture
  • Identify the architects who most influenced Mario Botta's works

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone interested in architecture and the arts, but may be of particular interest to teachers, researchers and students in the field of arts and architecture.

Who will you learn with?

Architect, PhD in History of Architecture and Urban Planning. Since 2011, he is researcher at the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio, USI.

Instructional design. Since February 2016, Giorgia is part of the eLab’s team and she is involved in several eLearning projects, in particular the MOOC promoted by the University (USI).

Since 2004 he is managing director of USI eLab - eLearning Lab; he is lecturer at USI at the Faculty of communication sciences.

Swiss architect. He is one of the founders of the Academy of architecture of the Università della Svizzera Italiana in Mendrisio, where he still teaches and held the directorship.

Who developed the course?

Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI)

Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) is one of the 12 certified public universities in Switzerland. It comprises of five faculties and is active in several study and research areas.

Learning on FutureLearn

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  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
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Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
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Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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