BECHTLER MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is one of Charlotte’s most inspired and inspiring spaces. Designed by the eminent Swiss architect Mario Botta, the museum’s architecture displays a sculptural power that connects to the dynamic art inside it.

A key design element of the four-story structure is the soaring glass atrium that extends through the museum’s core and diffuses natural light throughout the building. The open atrium allows for visual interplay between spaces. Other notable features include a vaulted skylight system and an enveloping terra cotta exterior.

The building’s dominant feature is the fourth floor gallery which makes a bold and dramatic statement as it flies out from the core of the building, cantilevered and supported by a swelling column rising from the plaza below. Inside, Botta maintained a rigorous but elegant simplicity in the palette of materials which include steel, glass, terra cotta, black granite, polished concrete and wood. Botta also designed select pieces of furniture for the museum including the reception desk, café bar, gallery benches and hanging globe lights.

The Architect

MARIO BOTTA

SKETCH OF THE BECHTLER

MARIO BOTTA

Swiss master architect Mario Botta is world renowned for his minimalist style and use of traditional materials such as brick and stone. His buildings respect topographical conditions, regional factors and building materials. The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art reflects Botta’s flair for strong, contemporary structures that layer colors, textures and materials. Exercising his modernist viewpoint, Botta designed the Bechtler to not only stand apart as a unique contribution to the urban landscape, but also to serve as a strong aesthetic partner among a group of individual design statements. Botta is considered one of the world’s foremost architects whose career spans a variety of building types. He has accepted only two commissions in the United States: the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art – iconic structures that enhance each cityscape.