"If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness."

"I would like my architecture to inspire people to use their own resources, to move into the future."

"But now, more and more, its society is concerned with economy and finance."

"The speed of change makes you wonder what will become of architecture."

"But in Japan, there's nothing like that, since the temple is made of wood. The divine spirit inside the building is eternal, so the enclosure doesn't have to be."

"You cannot simply put something new into a place. You have to absorb what you see around you, what exists on the land, and then use that knowledge along with contemporary thinking to interpret what you see."

"I don't look so closely at women's fashion, but from the 20th century on, people have had the freedom to express themselves and their individualities, and fashion is one of the most fundamental ways in which they do this, men and women are equally able to express themselves."

"Without this spirit, Modernist architecture cannot fully exist. Since there is often a mismatch between the logic and the spirit of Modernism, I use architecture to reconcile the two."

"There is a role and function for beauty in our time."

"When I design buildings, I think of the overall composition, much as the parts of a body would fit together. On top of that, I think about how people will approach the building and experience that space."

"When I draw something, the brain and the hands work together."

"The computer offers another kind of creativity. You cannot ignore the creativity that computer technology can bring. But you need to be able to move between those two different worlds."

"You can't really say what is beautiful about a place, but the image of the place will remain vividly with you."

"When you look at Japanese traditional architecture, you have to look at Japanese culture and its relationship with nature. You can actually live in a harmonious, close contact with nature - this very unique to Japan."

"My hand is the extension of the thinking process - the creative process."

"You always want to try to make something new, and, of course, America is the world leader in economics today."

"I hope America can also be the cultural leader of the world, and use this frontier spirit to lead and show others that we need courage to go places where we have not gone before."

"I believe that the way people live can be directed a little by architecture."

"Japanese traditional architecture is created based on these conditions. This is the reason you have a very high degree of connection between the outside and inside in architecture."

"At the same time, I would add that the American people have a lot of courage."

"I hope that America as a whole, and especially its architects, will become more seriously involved in producing a new architectural culture that would bring the nation to the apex - where it has stood before - and lead the world."

"People tend not to use this word beauty because it's not intellectual - but there has to be an overlap between beauty and intellect."

"In the West there has always been the attempt to try make the religious building, whether it's a Medieval or Renaissance church, an eternal object for the celebration of God. The material chosen, such as stone, brick, or concrete, is meant to eternally preserve what is inside."

"The level of detail and craft is something that's inscribed within the original design concept. And so when I begin to draw, I know what kind of detailing I want the building to have."