原文：Published on the occasion of the exhibition Mario Botta /The Museum of Modern Art/November 20,1986-February 10,1987
翻译：匡私衡
几何秩序，场所感，工艺和材料的构造，以及光的重要性都是你在谈到你的作品时强调的主题。你能谈谈这些问题吗？
首先，对我来说，秩序是一切手段的基础；它是思想和理性与自然界相关联的具体呈现。建筑是将自然转化为文化的行为。秩序通常是基于几何学的，它是这种转变行为的载体。我喜欢充满秩序、理性的元素，它们作为一个工具来与自然相平衡。人造元素与自然元素的并置，创造了一种融洽和冲突，这种张力便是建筑的特征。
第二，场所。建筑行为的第一步是占有场地。这是一种有意识地，以特定的方式对特定地点的地理、历史和文化进行新的干预。建筑就是对场地的改造。我们不能无视这个场地。它是建筑的根基，也是决定建筑法则的首要条件。
第三，没有建造，就没有建筑；建筑是通过结构和材料来实现的。我认为建筑中隐含的庇护的生理需求与材料的使用和感知直接相关。当我接近一座古老的建筑时，我觉得有必要与它有一种触觉上的融洽，以验证它的坚固性、它的成分和它的表面。这是人类原始需求的一部分，即了解和区分自己空间的各种元素。这就是为什么我试图表达每一种建筑和每一种材料的真实面貌。材料没有好坏之分，材料要么用得好，要么用得不好。
第四，光是空间的真正创造者。没有光，就没有空间。我喜欢用光作为构成的概念。体量通常只是一个从属于光的工具，而光决定了构成的秩序。对称性和几何体也是光的平衡元素。光在物理上将建筑与天空和宇宙联系在一起：它是体现了这样一种观念，即建筑是位于大地和天空之间的一个实体。我认为这是光在我的工作中的主要作用。
Geometric order, sense of place, the tectonics of craft and materials, and the importance of light are themes you have stressed in speaking of your work. Can you elaborate on these concerns?
First, order, for me, is the matrix of all artifice; it is the concretization of thought, of reason, in relation to the natural world. Architecture is the activity which transforms nature into culture. Order, which is often based on geometry, is the vehicle of this act of transformation. I love the element of order, of ratiocination, as an aspect and as a tool for counterbalancing the natural world. The juxtaposition of an artificial element with a natural one creates a rapport and a clash that, in its intensity, typifies the architectural event.
Second, sense of place, or site. The first step in the architectural act is taking possession of the site. It is a conscious act of transforming a unicum, an awareness that grounds the new intervention in the geography, history, and culture of a particular site. The architecture is the construction of this site. There can be no indifference toward the site. It is the very territory of architecture as well as the primary condition determining the laws by which one must build.
Third, construction and materials are the tools of the craft itself. Without construction, there is no architecture; and construction is realized by means of structures and materials. I like to consider the physiological need for protection implicit in architecture as directly related to the use and perception of the materials. When I get close to an old construction I feel the need to have a tactile rapport with it, to verify its solidity, its constitution, its surface. It is part of man’s primitive need to know and distinguish the various elements of his own space. This is why I try to express every construction and every kind of material for what it really is. There’s no such thing as good or bad material; materials are either well used or ill used.
And fourth, light is the true generator of space. Without light there is no space. I like to use light as the concept that carries the composition. Geometry usually comes in as a merely instrumental component subordinate to light, while the light determines the hierarchy of the composition. Symmetry and geometry also serve as balancing elements for the light. Light physically links architecture to the heavens and the cosmos: it is the element that embodies the notion of architecture as an entity standing between the earth and the heavens. I think that this is the principal role of light in my work.
