Located in the Yerba Buena district in San Francisco, and designed by the Swiss architect Mario Botta, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a center of urban focus materialized in the Modernist architecture of the Neo-Rational style. The aim of this paper is to discover the impact of Botta’s monumental work in the San Francisco’s architectural landscape but at the same time reveal the relevance of museums as institutions fostering regional, national and international cultural movements. I hope to understand how Botta’s style morphed from the seminal context of Ticino’s vernacular architecture into the construction of the a high profile museum on the eclectic environment of San Francisco. This paper also aims to create concrete ideas about formal and symbolic relationships between material/structure/style and the programme of the building, in other words, finding out why the volumes and spaces designed under Neo-Rational paradigm make sense for a museum built in a metropolis like San Francisco.
According to a printed biography provided by the museum, Mario Botta was born in 1943 in Mendrisio, Switzerland, he has practiced architecture since the age 15, when he began a three year apprenticeship with the architectural firm of Camenisch in Lugano. Then he went on to study with Carlo Scarpa at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice, becoming a professional architect in 1969
. During his four years in college he had the opportunity to work with Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, they marked a profound influence in Botta’s formative years. The design of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1988 was Botta’s first building in the United States and his first major museum
.
Fundamentally, a museum is a shelter to the human creative enterprise, and these expressions embodied in the art attempt to solve key questions about humanity. Almost unequivocally, meaningful works of art consider transcendental and universal problems. For instance, the most basic of all problems we humans face is the fact that we do not know where we come from, and most urgently! we do not know where we are heading to. With that in mind, the architectural challenge for the construction of any museum, and in this case, the SFMOMA, is to create a space to encounter in the present moment the vision of a culture in variety of artistic manifestations such as painting and sculpture. In other words, a museum provides a fertile ground for serious introspection and reflection about who we are as individuals and as a civilization. According to Justin Henderson, in his book San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the selection process for the design of the SFMOMA brought into competition architects of the caliber of Frank Gehry and Thomas Beeby. But Botta’s work was so close to the expectations of the selection committee that in 1988 the Chairman if the Board of Trustees, Brooks Walter, Jr., Announced Mario Botta as the designer for the new SFMOMA.
Mario Botta’s ability to develop simple geometric forms at a monumental scale come from his early experiences working in projects in the canton of Ticino. What makes Ticino different than any other place is its geographical location, this city is grounded in the Swiss alps but it is very close to the Italian border, Ticino is a witness of the middle age and Baroque period
. During this time there is an evident connection to nature by the liberal use of stone in its architecture. However, and according to the book Mario Botta: Architectures 1980-1990, what sets Botta apart from the rest of the Swiss architects of his time is that he studied in Italy with Le Corbusier and Kahn, by doing so Botta earned a very eclectic vision of design and architecture
. The formal aesthetics of Botta’s work can be described as a blend of geometries between modern and medieval, bold, functional and with ample and fluid circulatory system of the structures. When you walk around the SFMOMA you feel a symbiotic relationship between the art and the people moving around space. In the words of Botta “The works of art require optimal spaces to be completely enjoyed and, likewise, the gallery spaces need works of art to acquire their full dimensions. In museums, the real challenge is to discover that perfect balance where the architecture and art enrich one another.”
At the formal and symbolic levels we can compare the work of Botta in the SFMOMA to the architecture of Le Corbusier’s roofscape of the Parliament Building in Chandigarh
; the use of spatial references and volumes are very similar. Particularly in the tall cylinder funneling light to inside of the building using the path of the sun as it orbits the outer space. Symbolically, large accesses of natural light on a monumental geometries express transparency, egalitarianism and democratic institutions characteristic of thriving societies. Formally, massive natural light sources improve the display of the art and the aesthetic experience for the viewer. In other words, Neo-Rational architectural style makes sense for the SFMOMA because it relates the symbolism of the geometry with the individual and social perception of the museum.
Continuing with a formal description of the materials used for the construction of the museum’s bold symmetry: brick, glass and stone are rhythmically recessed and angled creating multiple textures on the facade of the building. The exteriors advantage point is from across the front entrance on third street; standing next to John Roloff’s sculpture the Deep Gradient/Suspect Terrain and facing the SFMOMA you can observe the building interacting with the rest of the San Franciscan skyline. There is an immediate relation of spaces between the buildings standing next to museum. The SFMOMA feels wide, horizontal and squatted in comparison to the vertical references of the architectural background.
The 20.900 square meters of the net floor area are divided in five floors with multiple galleries can be rearranged adjusting the configuration of the space to the particular need of the different exhibitions
. The monumental atrium, parallel to the tall and wide ceilings of the galleries provide a sense of amplitude the interior. Inside, White walls, wooden and marvel floors frame the works of art on display.
After a conversation with a docent giving a tour to the permanent collection, I learned that an massive expansion of the SFMOMA is scheduled to take place in summer 2013. This project will be executed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snohetta
. This expansion is a response to the necessity to make room for a growing permanent collection. According to the Director of SFMOMA, Neal Benezra, since 2005 the collection has grown from 12000 to 28000 pieces
. Making SFMOMA a relevant in the circuit of museums of contemporary art in the world.
To conclude, the SFMOMA creates a space to contemplate the vision or our civilization supported by bold and symmetric designs of Mario Botta’s Neo-Rational style. Botta’s work in the SFMOMA develops a symbiotic relation symbolically and formally to the work of art being displayed, as well as the vision of museums as institutions serving a reflective minds of individuals in thriving societies.
Bibliography.
"About the Project." San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.sfmoma.org/our_expansion/expansion_project>.
Botta, Mario, Pierluigi Nicolin, and Emilio Pizzi. Mario Botta, Architectures 1980-1990. Barcelona, Spain: G. Gili, 1991. Print.
Curtis, William J. R. Modern Architecture since 1900. [London]: Phaidon, 1996. Print.
Henderson, Justin. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2000. Print.
Jodidio, Philip, and Mario Botta. Mario Botta. Köln: Taschen, 2003. Print.
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