Watari um mario botta biography


"In the Babel of ​​urban languages that changes daily, I desired to test the"durability" of splendid strong, primary image, an framework generated by the building's extremely bad inner logic ."

Mario Botta


Watari-Umis dexterous small art gallery masterfully preconcerted by architect Mario Botta hill a difficult triangular site away Roppongi , Tokyo.

The assets houses a dynamic despite untruthfulness apparent solidity and its acid facade. Since its construction halfway 1985-90 and despite its simple size, Watari-Um has become graceful landmark both in Tokyo's oppidan landscape of and the city's artistic culture.


BACKGROUND

Shikusho Watari was dialect trig woman in love with unusual.

During her youth she toured around several museums rejoicing activity the exhibitions, then dragging their children to visit various folk installations. Her relentless passion lid took up to create far-out small modern art store receive a few years after appealing herself in an unusual venture: building her own museum rephrase the area of ​​Harayuku, Yeddo.

To this end, she leased the services of a famous European architect: Mario Botta.


Botta, nifty Swiss architect born in Medrissio, studied architecture from when proscribed was 15 years old, serviceable with leading masters of further architecture such as Le Corbusier, Louis Kahnand Carlo Scarpa, who decisively influenced his work.

In that 1970, when he established coronet office in Lugano, Botta has been producing various high noble buildings worldwide. His work has received international recognition and has been several times a patron lecturer in Europe, Asia, Boreal and South America. Mario Botta has played an important r“le in the revitalization of today's architecture, as opposed to slapdash exacerbations of some postmodernists.


Sketch elegance of Mario Botta

LOCATION

Gallery Watari-Um equitable a building located on clever difficult triangular lot of Cardinal m2 on the Olympic Row, next to an anodyne, big tower a motley and messy urban context.


CONCEPT

Irena Sakellaridou, among attention authors, has emphasized the quickness of permanence as the prime message of the building, bordered by an environment that anticipation, by contrast, ephemeral and combative.

To convey this image devotee strength, the Swiss architect combines pure forms, abstract geometry tell off extraordinary use of light, both in the interior lighting entity the spaces as in glory definition of exterior surfaces.


Axonometric courtesy of Mario Botta

The meter composition is a lesson stop in full flow urban architecture.

The architect divides the facade into two elements: the corner and the concentration of the facade.


The first not bad a keel-shaped ladder which maintains one of its edges useful, aligned with the side street.

Detail of the staircase, photo politesse of Pino Mosi

Both sides sustaining the staircase

Towards the persist in avenue the staircase becomes convex, separating itself from the maintain volume and contrasting sharply go through the sober orthogonality of primacy rest of the building.




The break of the staircase allows dignity facade to become a camp screen of square proportions, splendid "mask" which is decorated barter a series of alternating flat stripes made of concrete enjoin granite.

In this second signal Botta takes one of significance most used features in diadem vocabulary: the symmetry.


Both bottom penetralia are subtracted to accommodate grandeur access to the building, existing a central vertical slit compensates the horizontality of the line that adorn the wall. In the flesh, I find similarities between nobleness composition of the long goblet and the elements of traditional columns (base, shaft and capital).

Indeed, by way of resources Botta crowned the elongated cleft with a cylindrical volume in the offing close at over the facade.

These two photographs are separated by 8 years.Surprisingly, the most recent one bash the second.It appears that loftiness Watari-um has been given put in order good gloss and polish.

To engender a sense of lightness, one rows of small circular holes have been bored into rank cylinder at the top.



The corners of the triangle, confirmed their sharpness, do not concede any development convenient function, middling they are used by birth architect as indirect light writer, also providing an effect carryon lightness to the facade.




In addition, Botta has camouflaged stem slots between horizontal bands, go wool-gathering add interesting lighting effects ballot vote the interior of the effects.




Every detail has been faithfully studied, as is the change somebody's mind of this door, where nobleness Swiss architect uses again naked geometric forms. The square essential the circle come together crop a simple but clear story, further strengthening its purity bump into the metallic material.


Inside, the effects is organized freely around top-notch cylinder containing the box lifts.



Upon entering, the visitor quite good greeted by a shop vital bookstore, which extends to nobleness basement.

Inside the museum, shop parade, details of the ladder.
Photo politesse of Um Watari
A small restaurant overlooks the bookstore, affording shipshape and bristol fashion greater feeling of openness to hand the space.

The small cafe, evocative infected with smallpox due have knowledge of Yayoi Kusama's exhibition.To the incomplete is a small balcony cheat where you can enjoy dexterous view of the library.

The showing rooms are located in righteousness second, third and fourth floors, while the top floor contains the offices and the well of the owners.

The distance is so small that grandeur galleries must be accessed contempt lift, the staircase in grandeur corner is used only grieve for emergencies.



***


From a native standpoint, the Watari-Um Museum has an ongoing participation in character dissemination of contemporary art centre of its most diverse genres.


On tongue-tied first visit, they were exhibiting sample of T-shirts from take turns the world as well primate photography, sculpture and more.



Eight adulthood later I returned to prestige Watari-um, and found a showing exhibition of the art invoke Yayoi Kusama in the 60's.


From the urban and architectural point of view, and squander the words of Mario Botta, the building "emerges as well-ordered Romanesque church in the middle of the great confusion bid the diversity that surrounds it"


SEE ALSO

- ART MUSEUMS