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Quotes by Architect
"Tradition can, to be sure, participate in a creation, but it can no longer be creative itself."
96
"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."
82
"Architecture begins where engineering ends."
81
"The logic of Palladian architecture presented an aesthetic formula which could be applied universally."
69
"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."
61
"Not many architects have the luxury to reject significant things."
57
"I don't divide architecture, landscape and gardening; to me they are one."
56
"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."
55
"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."
54
"Our office acts like a kind of educational establishment and we are very careful who we educate."
53
"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."
52
"If a building becomes architecture, then it is art."
51
"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."
50
"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."
50
"Architecture tends to consume everything else, it has become one's entire life."
45
"I believe that the way people live can be directed a little by architecture."
45
"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."
43
"Architecture is a visual art, and the buildings speak for themselves."
41
"The Spiral Gallery may happen, too. It is not dependent on government funding."
40
"No amount of thought can ever reveal what comes unexpectedly."
40
"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."
38
"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness."
37
"To create architecture is to put in order. Put what in order? Function and objects."
35
"We want our buildings to work like a machine that will create a pleasurable environment."
34
"Architecture is basically a container of something. I hope they will enjoy not so much the teacup, but the tea."
33
"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."
32
"Any work of architecture that has with it some discussion, some polemic, I think is good. It shows that people are interested, people are involved."
32
"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."
32
"The Industrial Revolution was another of those extraordinary jumps forward in the story of civilization."
32
"It's a weird city because the uglier the weather, the more beautiful the city. And the uglier the buildings, the more coherent the city."
29
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