Mario Botta is a Swiss architect and designer known for his innovative brick designs of religious and museum buildings. Influenced by Bauhaus architecture, his work incorporates geometric forms, steel tubing, and black-and-white chevron and strip patterns. The artist is most commonly associated with his designs for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Church of Santo Volto, both of which highlight his skill with masonry construction. Born on April 1, 1943 in Mendrisio, Switzerland, Botta designed a two-family home by the age of 16. He later studied at the IUAV in Venice, where he worked alongside Modernist architects Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier. The artist went on to found his own practice in 1969, where he work primarily on commissioned buildings. Over the course of his architectural career, he was awarded the Chicago Architecture Award, the International Biennial of Architecture in Buenos Aires, and the European Award for Culture in Karlsruche. Botto’s smaller designs and sketches are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others. The artist lives and works in Lugano, Switzerland.