Quotes by Architect | Beyond Motive 11/14

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Quotes by Architect

"Art is very tricky because it's what you do for yourself. It's much harder for me to make those works than the monuments or the architecture."

"Art is very tricky because it's what you do for yourself. It's much harder for me to make those works than the monuments or the architecture."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Architecture, Art, Monuments

9

"My career was 100% different from what I intended to do. I thought I'd photograph nature and landscapes but I wound up photographing the changing of the times."

"My career was 100% different from what I intended to do. I thought I'd photograph nature and landscapes but I wound up photographing the changing of the times."

Charles Moore, American Architect

Nature, Thought, Career

9

"But the building's identity resided in the ornament."

"But the building's identity resided in the ornament."

Louis Sullivan, American Architect

Building, Identity

9

"In art or architecture your project is only done when you say it's done. If you want to rip it apart at the eleventh hour and start all over again, you never finish. I was one of those crazy creatures."

"In art or architecture your project is only done when you say it's done. If you want to rip it apart at the eleventh hour and start all over again, you never finish. I was one of those crazy creatures."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Architecture, Art, Project, Want

9

"I really enjoyed hanging out with some of the teachers. This one chemistry teacher, she liked hanging out. I liked making explosives. We would stay after school and blow things up."

"I really enjoyed hanging out with some of the teachers. This one chemistry teacher, she liked hanging out. I liked making explosives. We would stay after school and blow things up."

Maya Lin, American Architect

School, Teachers

9

"When we dream alone it is only a dream, but when many dream together it is the beginning of a new reality."

"When we dream alone it is only a dream, but when many dream together it is the beginning of a new reality."

Friedensreich Hundert, Austrian Architect

Dream, Beginning, Reality

9

"Beauty: the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change without impairing the harmony of the whole."

"Beauty: the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change without impairing the harmony of the whole."

Leon Battista Alberti, Italian Architect

Change, Harmony

9

"It was the spirit animating the mass and flowing from it, and it expressed the individuality of the building."

"It was the spirit animating the mass and flowing from it, and it expressed the individuality of the building."

Louis Sullivan, American Architect

Building, Individuality, Spirit

9

"With the opening of the second decade of the twentieth century it seemed that the stage was set for the last act in an unquestioned evolutionary drama."

"With the opening of the second decade of the twentieth century it seemed that the stage was set for the last act in an unquestioned evolutionary drama."

Ralph A. Cram, American Architect

9

"A time will come when men will stretch out their eyes. They should see planets like our Earth."

"A time will come when men will stretch out their eyes. They should see planets like our Earth."

Christopher Wren, English Architect

Men, Time, Earth, Eyes

9

"There are good books and there are bad books, period, that's the distinction."

"There are good books and there are bad books, period, that's the distinction."

Norton Juster, American Architect

9

"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature."

"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

9

"My grandfather, on my father's side, helped to draft one of the first constitutions of China. He was a fairly well-known scholar."

"My grandfather, on my father's side, helped to draft one of the first constitutions of China. He was a fairly well-known scholar."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Father, Draft, First

9

"Profit and bottom line, the contemporary mantra, eliminates the very source of architectural expression."

"Profit and bottom line, the contemporary mantra, eliminates the very source of architectural expression."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Expression, Profit

9

"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

9

"I don't get to sleep when I'm in New York. Really. I'm living on adrenaline."

"I don't get to sleep when I'm in New York. Really. I'm living on adrenaline."

Daniel Libeskind, Polish Architect

9

"Space is the breath of art."

"Space is the breath of art."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

9

"The innovative spirit was America's strongest attribute, transforming everything into a brave new world, but there lingered an insecurity about the arts."

"The innovative spirit was America's strongest attribute, transforming everything into a brave new world, but there lingered an insecurity about the arts."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

America, Insecurity, Spirit, World

9

"Every building is a prototype. No two are alike."

"Every building is a prototype. No two are alike."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

9

"The huge problem in our society is the enormous ignorance of the ideas that underlie modern art."

"The huge problem in our society is the enormous ignorance of the ideas that underlie modern art."

Thom Mayne, American Architect

Art, Society, Ideas, Ignorance

9

"We must learn to understand humanity better so that we can create an environment that is more beneficial to people, more rewarding, more pleasant to experience."

"We must learn to understand humanity better so that we can create an environment that is more beneficial to people, more rewarding, more pleasant to experience."

John Portman, American Architect

Experience, People, Environment, Humanity

9

"And it is very moving because one has to see the site not as just another site of development but it is a very special site. It is a site that souls and hearts of all Americans."

"And it is very moving because one has to see the site not as just another site of development but it is a very special site. It is a site that souls and hearts of all Americans."

Daniel Libeskind, Polish Architect

Development, Americans

9

"As you can probably tell, I like films and directors that bring a totally unique style to filming action."

"As you can probably tell, I like films and directors that bring a totally unique style to filming action."

John Foster, British Architect

9

"There is little doubt that we are in the midst of a revolution of a much more profound and fundamental nature than the social and political revolutions of the last half century."

"There is little doubt that we are in the midst of a revolution of a much more profound and fundamental nature than the social and political revolutions of the last half century."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Nature, Doubt, Revolution

9

"It's funny, as you live through something you're not aware of it."

"It's funny, as you live through something you're not aware of it."

Maya Lin, American Architect

9

"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

9

"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

9

"Freedom is from within."

"Freedom is from within."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

9

"The role of art in society differs for every artist."

"The role of art in society differs for every artist."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Art, Society, Artist

9

"The American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture."

"The American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

Architecture, Attitude, American, Efficiency

9

"Architecture is a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning; by the help of which a judgment is formed of those works which are the result of other arts."

"Architecture is a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning; by the help of which a judgment is formed of those works which are the result of other arts."

Marcus V. Pollio, American Architect

Architecture, Science, Help, Judgment

9

"It is the mystery of the creative act that something other than our conscious self takes over."

"It is the mystery of the creative act that something other than our conscious self takes over."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Act, Mystery, Self

9

"The great dream merchant Disney was a success because make-believe was what everyone seemed to need in a spiritually empty land."

"The great dream merchant Disney was a success because make-believe was what everyone seemed to need in a spiritually empty land."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Success, Dream, Disney, Land

9

"Some artists want to confront. Some want to invoke thought. They're all necessary and they're all valid."

"Some artists want to confront. Some want to invoke thought. They're all necessary and they're all valid."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Thought, Artists, Want

9

"Sometimes you have to stop thinking. Sometimes you shut down completely. I think that's true in any creative field."

"Sometimes you have to stop thinking. Sometimes you shut down completely. I think that's true in any creative field."

Maya Lin, American Architect

9

"In those countries with centuries of a craft tradition behind their building methods, techniques are tightly coordinated under the direction of the architect."

"In those countries with centuries of a craft tradition behind their building methods, techniques are tightly coordinated under the direction of the architect."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Building, Countries, Direction, Tradition

9

"The only thing that mattered was what you were to do in life, and it wasn't about money. It was about teaching, or learning."

"The only thing that mattered was what you were to do in life, and it wasn't about money. It was about teaching, or learning."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Life, Money, Learning, Teaching

9

"America has always imported history."

"America has always imported history."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

History, America

9

"Then I sit down, work at it, because now I have a convincing feeling about what that place wants to be, you see? And it's not just me. Me and my talent comes in taking that consensus and then making something wonderful out of it - a work of art."

"Then I sit down, work at it, because now I have a convincing feeling about what that place wants to be, you see? And it's not just me. Me and my talent comes in taking that consensus and then making something wonderful out of it - a work of art."

Lawrence Halprin, American Architect

Art, Work, Talent, Feeling

9

"Every time a student walks past a really urgent, expressive piece of architecture that belongs to his college, it can help reassure him that he does have that mind, does have that soul."

"Every time a student walks past a really urgent, expressive piece of architecture that belongs to his college, it can help reassure him that he does have that mind, does have that soul."

Louis Kahn, American Architect

Architecture, Time, Soul, College

9

"A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart."

"A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

9

"Because, if we understand how a building is to be produced and we find a way that it can be more simply produced, then obviously we are contributing to building better buildings more easily."

"Because, if we understand how a building is to be produced and we find a way that it can be more simply produced, then obviously we are contributing to building better buildings more easily."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

9

"Our parents decided not to teach us Chinese. It was an era when they felt we would be better off if we didn't have that complication."

"Our parents decided not to teach us Chinese. It was an era when they felt we would be better off if we didn't have that complication."

Maya Lin, American Architect

9

"The process I go through in the art and the architecture, I actually want it to be almost childlike. Sometimes I think it's magical."

"The process I go through in the art and the architecture, I actually want it to be almost childlike. Sometimes I think it's magical."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Art, Architecture, Want

9

"Space has always been the spiritual dimension of architecture. It is not the physical statement of the structure so much as what it contains that moves us."

"Space has always been the spiritual dimension of architecture. It is not the physical statement of the structure so much as what it contains that moves us."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Architecture, Space, Spiritual

9

"OK, it was black, it was below grade, I was female, Asian American, young, too young to have served. Yet I think none of the opposition in that sense hurt me."

"OK, it was black, it was below grade, I was female, Asian American, young, too young to have served. Yet I think none of the opposition in that sense hurt me."

Maya Lin, American Architect

American, Hurt, Opposition, Sense

9

"Well, now that he's finished one building, he'll go write four books about it."

"Well, now that he's finished one building, he'll go write four books about it."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

Books, Building, Now

9

"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

9

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

Love, Nature, Study, Will

9

"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

9

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