Quotes by Architect | Beyond Motive 10/14

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Quotes by Architect

"And I like the idea of change. Because I don't see why we should hang a painting on the wall and then just not think of it anymore because it's there like a piece of furniture."

"And I like the idea of change. Because I don't see why we should hang a painting on the wall and then just not think of it anymore because it's there like a piece of furniture."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Change, Idea, Painting

40

"The Wayne Education Building was the first classroom building that we have done on the Wayne campus."

"The Wayne Education Building was the first classroom building that we have done on the Wayne campus."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Education, Building, Classroom, First

40

"I was probably the first kid in my high school to go to Yale. I applied almost as a lark. Then, when I got there, I was the dumbest person in your class."

"I was probably the first kid in my high school to go to Yale. I applied almost as a lark. Then, when I got there, I was the dumbest person in your class."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Class, First, School

40

"If you examine this, I think that you will find that it's the mechanics of Japanese architecture that have been thought of as the direct influence upon our architecture."

"If you examine this, I think that you will find that it's the mechanics of Japanese architecture that have been thought of as the direct influence upon our architecture."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Architecture, Thought, Influence, Will

40

"When I investigate and when I discover that the forces of the heavens and the planets are within ourselves, then truly I seem to be living among the gods."

"When I investigate and when I discover that the forces of the heavens and the planets are within ourselves, then truly I seem to be living among the gods."

Leon Battista Alberti, Italian Architect

God, Gods, Living

40

"The heart, not the head, must be the guide."

"The heart, not the head, must be the guide."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

40

"When I was very little, we would get letters from China, in Chinese, and they' be censored. We were a very insular little family."

"When I was very little, we would get letters from China, in Chinese, and they' be censored. We were a very insular little family."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Family, Letters

40

"I went through withdrawal when I got out of graduate school. It's what you learn, what you think. That's all that counts."

"I went through withdrawal when I got out of graduate school. It's what you learn, what you think. That's all that counts."

Maya Lin, American Architect

40

"I have no philosophy, my favourite thing is sitting in the studio."

"I have no philosophy, my favourite thing is sitting in the studio."

Arne Jacobsen, Danish Architect

40

"You will soon find that I am a bit obsessive about my work. And that is a little sad, one often feels strangely restricted, not finding time to simmer, although one actually has many interests."

"You will soon find that I am a bit obsessive about my work. And that is a little sad, one often feels strangely restricted, not finding time to simmer, although one actually has many interests."

Arne Jacobsen, Danish Architect

Time, Work, Will

40

"I plead for conservation of human culture, which is much more fragile than nature herself. We needn't destroy other cultures with the force of our own."

"I plead for conservation of human culture, which is much more fragile than nature herself. We needn't destroy other cultures with the force of our own."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Nature, Conservation, Culture, Force

40

"With a painter or a sculptor, one cannot begin to alter his works, but an architect has to put up with anything, because he makes utility objects - the building is there to be used, and times change."

"With a painter or a sculptor, one cannot begin to alter his works, but an architect has to put up with anything, because he makes utility objects - the building is there to be used, and times change."

Arne Jacobsen, Danish Architect

Change, Building

40

"The artist likes to seem totally responsible for his work. Often he begins to explain it, to make it appear as if it were a reasonable process."

"The artist likes to seem totally responsible for his work. Often he begins to explain it, to make it appear as if it were a reasonable process."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

40

"I think the younger generation, the people poised to dominate the workforce, are more socially conscious. They are more demanding in terms of environment and how that environment contributes to their life."

"I think the younger generation, the people poised to dominate the workforce, are more socially conscious. They are more demanding in terms of environment and how that environment contributes to their life."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

Life, People, Environment

40

"The structure of life I have described in buildings - the structure which I believe to be objective - is deeply and inextricably connected with the human person, and with the innermost nature of human feeling."

"The structure of life I have described in buildings - the structure which I believe to be objective - is deeply and inextricably connected with the human person, and with the innermost nature of human feeling."

Christopher Alexander, American Architect

Life, Nature, Feeling

40

"Christianity, democracy, science, education, wealth, and the cumulative inheritance of a thousand years, have not preserved us from the vain repetition of history."

"Christianity, democracy, science, education, wealth, and the cumulative inheritance of a thousand years, have not preserved us from the vain repetition of history."

Ralph A. Cram, American Architect

History, Education, Science, Wealth

39

"In this tour around the world I was not interested in contemporary buildings because I had seen contemporary buildings actually until they came out of my ears in a sense."

"In this tour around the world I was not interested in contemporary buildings because I had seen contemporary buildings actually until they came out of my ears in a sense."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

39

"There was hostility surrounding doing my job."

"There was hostility surrounding doing my job."

Charles Moore, American Architect

39

"God is in the details."

"God is in the details."

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, American Architect

39

"We are creating a unique experience. It's starts with how you see the building from a distance."

"We are creating a unique experience. It's starts with how you see the building from a distance."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

Experience, Building

39

"It is most necessary to avoid rusticity in any way, whether in material, design, or execution."

"It is most necessary to avoid rusticity in any way, whether in material, design, or execution."

George Edmund Street, English Architect

Design, Execution

39

"We only exist in terms of how we think we exist. Meaning every cultural development is fabricated and can be fabricated."

"We only exist in terms of how we think we exist. Meaning every cultural development is fabricated and can be fabricated."

Thom Mayne, American Architect

Development, Meaning

39

"The whole memorial is for different senses... seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling. I probably would have come up with something different if I had not lived through it."

"The whole memorial is for different senses... seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling. I probably would have come up with something different if I had not lived through it."

Lawrence Halprin, American Architect

Feelings, Feeling, Hearing, Senses

39

"When a project has an ample budget, I am interested now in using bigger units of materials."

"When a project has an ample budget, I am interested now in using bigger units of materials."

Yoshio Taniguchi, Japanese Architect

39

"You don't know what the Chinese expect in the way of beauty. The presentation is just a farce. You come into a room filled with 50 people and they don't talk to you. There's very little interaction."

"You don't know what the Chinese expect in the way of beauty. The presentation is just a farce. You come into a room filled with 50 people and they don't talk to you. There's very little interaction."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

Beauty, People, Talk

39

"I want to do very useful buildings and I would like to find a method of producing these buildings through our technology because I think that this is the only way that we will gain wonderful environment easily in the future."

"I want to do very useful buildings and I would like to find a method of producing these buildings through our technology because I think that this is the only way that we will gain wonderful environment easily in the future."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Technology, Environment, Future, Gain

39

"Rome has not seen a modern building in more than half a century. It is a city frozen in time."

"Rome has not seen a modern building in more than half a century. It is a city frozen in time."

Richard Meier, American Architect

Time, Building, Rome

39

"Almost every time I make a building, some people will condemn it straight to Hell."

"Almost every time I make a building, some people will condemn it straight to Hell."

Arne Jacobsen, Danish Architect

Time, People, Building, Hell

39

"I didn't really discover yakuza films until about five or six years ago."

"I didn't really discover yakuza films until about five or six years ago."

John Foster, British Architect

39

"The essentially unchangeable established order of things slowly disappeared and was forgotten for a while completely."

"The essentially unchangeable established order of things slowly disappeared and was forgotten for a while completely."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

39

"Descriptions of my work depress me. They make me feel pinned down."

"Descriptions of my work depress me. They make me feel pinned down."

Thom Mayne, American Architect

39

"The war, as I felt it and a lot of my compatriots felt it, was a creative act."

"The war, as I felt it and a lot of my compatriots felt it, was a creative act."

Lawrence Halprin, American Architect

39

"It is essential to an architect to know how to see: I mean to see in such a way that the vision is not overpowered by rational analysis."

"It is essential to an architect to know how to see: I mean to see in such a way that the vision is not overpowered by rational analysis."

Luis Barragan, Mexican Architect

39

"I was always making things. Even though art was what I did every day, it didn't even occur to me that I would be an artist."

"I was always making things. Even though art was what I did every day, it didn't even occur to me that I would be an artist."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Art, Artist, Day

39

"Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union."

"Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

38

"And I think that the environment is one very strong way to counterbalance the chaotic nature of our life."

"And I think that the environment is one very strong way to counterbalance the chaotic nature of our life."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Life, Nature, Environment

38

"Nowhere has specialization penetrated so deeply into the building professions as North America."

"Nowhere has specialization penetrated so deeply into the building professions as North America."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

America, Building

38

"God gives us relatives; thank God, we can choose our friends."

"God gives us relatives; thank God, we can choose our friends."

Addison Mizner, American Architect

God, Friends, Relatives

38

"The home should be the treasure chest of living."

"The home should be the treasure chest of living."

Le Corbusier, Swiss Architect

Home, Living, Treasure

38

"The mystery is what prompted men to leave caves, to come out of the womb of nature."

"The mystery is what prompted men to leave caves, to come out of the womb of nature."

Stephen Gardiner, British Architect

Men, Nature, Mystery

38

"In any architecture, there is an equity between the pragmatic function and the symbolic function."

"In any architecture, there is an equity between the pragmatic function and the symbolic function."

Michael Graves, American Architect

38

"Building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony together."

"Building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony together."

Alvar Aalto, Finnish Architect

Art, Life, Building, Harmony

38

"Western history has been a history of deed done, actions performed and results achieved."

"Western history has been a history of deed done, actions performed and results achieved."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

History, Actions, Deed, Results

38

"My passion and great enjoyment for architecture, and the reason the older I get the more I enjoy it, is because I believe we - architects - can effect the quality of life of the people."

"My passion and great enjoyment for architecture, and the reason the older I get the more I enjoy it, is because I believe we - architects - can effect the quality of life of the people."

Richard Rogers, British Architect

Life, Architecture, Quality, People

38

"To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom."

"To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Dream, Being, Freedom

38

"An absolutely different and distinctive character."

"An absolutely different and distinctive character."

George Edmund Street, English Architect

38

"The worst-tempered people I've ever met were the people who knew they were wrong."

"The worst-tempered people I've ever met were the people who knew they were wrong."

Addison Mizner, American Architect

38

"We should concentrate our work not only to a separated housing problem but housing involved in our daily work and all the other functions of the city."

"We should concentrate our work not only to a separated housing problem but housing involved in our daily work and all the other functions of the city."

Alvar Aalto, Finnish Architect

38

"The interior of the house personifies the private world; the exterior of it is part of the outside world."

"The interior of the house personifies the private world; the exterior of it is part of the outside world."

Stephen Gardiner, British Architect

38

"I would rather not tell you here things which every German has at heart."

"I would rather not tell you here things which every German has at heart."

Albert Speer, German Architect

38

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