The architect Mario Botta retraces some significant steps of his career, exploring the inner questions that pushed him to investigate the spaces of sacred and profane. Two concepts that coexist and raise the doubt from which the architect’s work begins.
Mario Botta’s testimony and some close critics’ and artists’ reflections - Enzo Cucchi, Margherita Guccione, Fulvio Irace, Vittorio Sgarbi and Giuliano Vangi – accompany the narration in its chapters. Here, these concepts in opposition, essential elements of Botta’s work, are explored.

The film was produced for the MAXXI Museum in Rome. There, Botta has imagined an installation composed of heterogeneous and highly expressive materials, ranging from a 1:1 scale pavilion and to a facade prototype, to models, sketches, and photographs of his built projects. The ‘sacred and profane’ theme, that gives the exhibition its title, is interpreted in the broader sense of a sacredness inherent in every architectural gesture. From the purity of the materials to the sensitivity to the context.

Mario Botta has realized works and projects worldwide, including the MOMA in San Francisco, the Jean Tinguely Museum in Basel, and the MART in Rovereto, Italy. He is the creator and founder of the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio. In addition, he created the Teatro dell’Architettura, a place entirely conceived to show and discuss the discipline of architecture, reflecting his interest in the staging of architecture which finds new opportunities at the MAXXI.

Directed by Francesca Molteni
Cinematography Paolo Negro
Editing Veronica Scotti
Producer Greta Giussani
Assistant director Nicolò Amedeo