Mario Botta

MARIO BOTTA (Mendrisio, Switzerland, 1943) for Alias.
Pair of chairs "Seconda". Italy, 1980s.
First two-color edition in black and gray.
Tubular lacquered steel frame, perforated seat and cylindrical back.
Exhibits sligthly wear consistent with age and use.
Measurements: 71.5 × 52 × 58 cm.

Pair of chairs designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta for Alias. Architectural and essential language, the design is built from a metal structure of geometric lines, perforated seat and cylindrical backrest divided into two volumes.

The two-color combination of black and gray reinforces the graphic character of the piece, underlining the contrast between structural lightness and formal rotundity. La Seconda reflects Botta's approach to furniture as an extension of architecture: precise, rational and with a strong spatial presence.

Mario Botta is one of the most renowned Swiss architects of the second half of the 20th century. Trained in Venice, he worked in contact with figures such as Le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn, developing a work marked by geometry, monumentality and constructive rigor. In addition to his architectural production, he has designed furniture for firms such as Alias, bringing to the domestic scale his interest in structure, volume and formal clarity.