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Quotes by Architect
"Tradition can, to be sure, participate in a creation, but it can no longer be creative itself."
108
"That business of relaxation, which is so terribly modern today, is all good and well, but my work interests me so much, and is so varied, that many times it seems relaxing when I go from one aspect to another."
107
"Architecture begins where engineering ends."
101
"The logic of Palladian architecture presented an aesthetic formula which could be applied universally."
92
"Proportions are what makes the old Greek temples classic in their beauty. They are like huge blocks, from which the air has been literally hewn out between the columns."
79
"Japan's humid and warm summer climate, as well as frequent earthquakes resulted in lightweight timber buildings raised off the ground that are resistant to earth tremors."
73
"Not many architects have the luxury to reject significant things."
69
"Changes in the traditional way of building are only permitted if they are an improvement. Otherwise stay with what is traditional, for truth, even if it be hundreds of years old has a stronger inner bond with us than the lie that walks by our side."
65
"Our office acts like a kind of educational establishment and we are very careful who we educate."
64
"I don't divide architecture, landscape and gardening; to me they are one."
64
"If architecture had nothing to do with art, it would be astonishingly easy to build houses, but the architect's task - his most difficult task - is always that of selecting."
64
"If a building becomes architecture, then it is art."
63
"For me, every day is a new thing. I approach each project with a new insecurity, almost like the first project I ever did. And I get the sweats. I go in and start working, I'm not sure where I'm going. If I knew where I was going I wouldn't do it."
61
"I believe that the way people live can be directed a little by architecture."
60
"On the other hand, I don't understand the enthusiasm for everything in the antique shop that Grandma threw out. There, the sense of quality has declined; otherwise Grandma wouldn't have thrown it out."
58
"Architecture tends to consume everything else, it has become one's entire life."
54
"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."
53
"The Spiral Gallery may happen, too. It is not dependent on government funding."
52
"We want our buildings to work like a machine that will create a pleasurable environment."
51
"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness."
50
"Architecture is a visual art, and the buildings speak for themselves."
48
"No amount of thought can ever reveal what comes unexpectedly."
47
"The Industrial Revolution was another of those extraordinary jumps forward in the story of civilization."
45
"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."
43
"Everyone has the right to walk from one end of the city to the other in secure and beautiful spaces. Everybody has the right to go by public transport. Everybody has the right to an unhampered view down their street, not full of railings, signs and rubbish."
42
"To create architecture is to put in order. Put what in order? Function and objects."
41
"There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications."
41
"The architect must be a prophet... a prophet in the true sense of the term... if he can't see at least ten years ahead don't call him an architect."
38
"Architecture is basically a container of something. I hope they will enjoy not so much the teacup, but the tea."
38
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