House, Massagno, Switzerland (Plan, preliminary sketch)
Mario Botta
Swiss, born 1943
1979–1981
A working floor-plan sketch in graphite on tracing paper where Mario Botta experiments with a bold central circular space and curved walls to organize a house in Massagno.
Lively, overlapping pencil strokes and faint measurement notes emphasize a strong central oculus and sweeping curved partitions, the translucent tracing paper making each erased and retraced decision visible.
The drawing reveals Botta’s signature use of basic geometric volumes—circle and cylinder—and exemplifies how late‑20th‑century architects used expressive hand sketches to translate abstract geometry into inhabitable space.
Medium
Graphite on tracing paper
Dimensions
11 1/2 x 17 3/8" (29.2 x 44.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
437.1987
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
