Mario Botta is Principal of Mario Botta Architetto in Lugano, Switzerland.

He studied at the Art College in Milan and University Institute of Architecture in Venice.

He worked for Le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn in Venice in the late 1960s and his professional activity began in 1970 in Lugano.

His work includes the André Malraux Theatre and Cultural Center in Chambéry, France; a library in Villeurbanne, France; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), USA; Évry Cathedral, France; Jean Tinguely Museum in Basel, Switzerland; Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Centre in Tel Aviv, Israel; Dortmund Municipal Library, Germany; Friedrich Dürrenmatt Centre in Neuchâtel, Switzerland; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MART) in Rovereto, Italy; Kyobo Tower in Seoul, South Korea; Tata CS office buildings in New Delhi and Hyderabad, India; Fondation Bodmer Museum and Library in Cologny, Switzerland; Pope John XXIII church and pastoral center in Seriate, Italy; Bergamo Public Library, Italy. He has also designed restoration works at Theatre alla Scala in Milan, Chiesa Santo Volto in Turin, Italy; and Arosa Wellness Centre, Switzerland.

In 1996, he was one of the founding professors of the Academy of Architecture at the University of Lugano (Università della Svizzera italiana – USI) in Mendrisio, Switzerland where he is Professor of Design (1996-), and held Directorship of the academy (2002/03).

His work has received the AIA Merit Award for Excellence in Design for the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco; the IAA Annual Prix 2005 of the International Academy of Architecture, Sofia, Bulgaria for the Kyobo Tower, the International Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and “European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage Europa Nostra”, The Hague, Netherlands, for restructuring of the Theatre alla Scala in Milan.

Mario Botta was a member of the Global LafargeHolcim Awards jury in 2012.