Mario Botta was born in Mendrisio on April 1, 1943. After a period of apprenticeship in Lugano, he attended the art school in Milan and continue his studies at the University Institute of Venice, where he graduated in 1969 with the supervisors Carlo Scarpa and Giuseppe Mazzariol. During his time in Venice, he has the opportunity to meet and work for Le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn. In 1970 he opened his own studio in Lugano and, since then, he also carried out an intense didactic activity with conferences, seminars and courses at architecture schools in Europe, Asia, the United States and Latin America. Starting from the first realizations of single-family homes in Canton Ticino, his work has embraced  many building types: schools, banks, administrative buildings, libraries, museums and religious buildings. Since the beginning of his career, his work has been recognized and awarded internationally, as well as being featured in numerous exhibitions and publications. In 1996, he is one of the founders of the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture, where he still teaches and has held the position of director. His commitments as an architect and professor, combined with the role of President of the jury of the BSII Architectural Award and the current commitment to the realization of the Theatre of Architecture, allows him to trasmit the knowledge of a profession that is, first of all, his passion. Since 2011, the Mario Botta Architetti studio has moved to Mendrisio where he actively continues to deal with projects on a national and international scale, also participating in prestigious competitions. Architecture and memory constitute an inseparable combination of his work, as the transformations implemented by architecture become parts of the human landscape. Light generates space, primary geometric shapes are distinctive signs of man in the territory.