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Architects: Mario Botta
- Area: 2490 m²
- Year: 2009
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Photographs:Joel Lassiter, Enrico Cano
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Manufacturers: Boston Valley Terra Cotta, Zone Display Cases
Text description provided by the architects. The museum is located in downtown Charlotte, a city that has undergone a rapid urban development in recent years. It houses the works of art of Andreas Bechtlers’ collection with important artists such as Tinguely, Niki de Saint Phalle, Picasso, Giacometti, Matisse, Mirò, Degas, Warhol, Le Corbusier, Léger.
The cube-shaped building is hollow inside to offer an outdoor public courtyard that is outlined by the plastic volumes at the back. The four-storey structure is characterized by the soaring glass atrium that extends through the core of the museum and diffuses natural light throughout the building thanks to a system of vaulted skylights.
Despite its modest dimensions, a great plastic force is created by the play of solids and voids. It can be thus defined as an architecture-sculpture where the voids mark a new urban space sheltered by the fourth floor gallery jutting out from the core of the building and supported by a huge single column rising from the plaza below.
The choice of the materials for the interior spaces and the terra cotta exterior cladding provide the museum with a rigorous, though elegant simplicity.
