Il Fiore di Botta

It was 2008 when, on the proposal of the then Rector Vincenzo Milanesi, the Board of Directors of the University approved the construction of the new teaching complex of Biology and Biomedicine. After six years, on September 30, 2014, under the rectorate of Giuseppe Zaccaria, the Fiore di Botta was inaugurated, the structure designed by the Ticino architect Mario Botta, which will become a teaching center of Biology and Biomedicine for teachers, researchers and thousands of students.

The structure consists of a single building with a semicircular plan that develops for a total volume of over 34,000 cubic meters, a height of 18.50 meters and an area, per floor, of 1727 square meters. It includes 23 classrooms for a total of 2177 seats, 21 laboratories for 668 seats, two computer rooms, two study rooms as well as spaces for teachers and technical and administrative staff.  Suggesting the image of a flower with petals, hence the name 'Fiore di Botta', is the plan with five volumes arranged in a radial pattern. The heart of the building consists of a large entrance with a semi-cylindrical volume open to light on the top of the roof, while the exterior is made of exposed brick on a concrete structure.

The design and construction process of the entire structure, cutting-edge and highly technological, was based on the criterion of energy saving, both for the architectural-building aspects (building envelope) and for the plant engineering aspects (air conditioning and lighting systems).