Quotes by Architect | Beyond Motive 11/14

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Quotes by Architect

"Being the gateway to a large city, St. Louis, I had felt from the very beginning that somehow this building should symbolize this sense of being a gateway."

"Being the gateway to a large city, St. Louis, I had felt from the very beginning that somehow this building should symbolize this sense of being a gateway."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Beginning, Being, Building, Sense

6

"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

6

"I've learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table."

"I've learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table."

Thom Mayne, American Architect

Work, Order, Sense

6

"The permanent power brokers of this city are the columnists."

"The permanent power brokers of this city are the columnists."

Hugh Newell Jacobsen, American Architect

6

"I left science, then I went into art, but I approach things very analytically. I choose to pursue both art and architecture as completely separate fields rather than merging them."

"I left science, then I went into art, but I approach things very analytically. I choose to pursue both art and architecture as completely separate fields rather than merging them."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Architecture, Art, Science

6

"The greater the step forward in knowledge, the greater is the one taken backward in search of wisdom."

"The greater the step forward in knowledge, the greater is the one taken backward in search of wisdom."

Stephen Gardiner, British Architect

Wisdom, Knowledge

6

"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

6

"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

6

"The awesomeness of God is that even in the works of the Beach Boys, Beatles, etc., the beauty of the music is a mere reflection of what God does everyday. He creates music of all kinds and moods."

"The awesomeness of God is that even in the works of the Beach Boys, Beatles, etc., the beauty of the music is a mere reflection of what God does everyday. He creates music of all kinds and moods."

John Foster, British Architect

Beauty, Music, God, Beach

5

"Our greatest responsibility is not to be pencils of the past."

"Our greatest responsibility is not to be pencils of the past."

Robert A. M. Stern, American Architect

Past, Responsibility

5

"If I have a style, I am not aware of it."

"If I have a style, I am not aware of it."

Michael Graves, American Architect

5

"You have to have conviction and completely question everything and anything you do. No matter how much you study, no matter how much you know, the side of your brain that has the smarts won't necessarily help you in making art."

"You have to have conviction and completely question everything and anything you do. No matter how much you study, no matter how much you know, the side of your brain that has the smarts won't necessarily help you in making art."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Art, Conviction, Help, Question

5

"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

5

"But now sustainability is such a political category that it's getting more and more difficult to think about it in a serious way. Sustainability has become an ornament."

"But now sustainability is such a political category that it's getting more and more difficult to think about it in a serious way. Sustainability has become an ornament."

Rem Koolhaas, Dutch Architect

5

"There aren't many American directors here trying to direct a Japanese yakuza film. When you combine that with the fact that I don't speak much Japanese and this was an independent film I was financing myself - people were curious about what I was doing."

"There aren't many American directors here trying to direct a Japanese yakuza film. When you combine that with the fact that I don't speak much Japanese and this was an independent film I was financing myself - people were curious about what I was doing."

John Foster, British Architect

People, American, Fact, Film

5

"The plastic on your sandwich really doesn't have to be made to last 50 years."

"The plastic on your sandwich really doesn't have to be made to last 50 years."

Charles Moore, American Architect

5

"We find Japan a little more difficult to understand because it has proven its 20th century prowess though the ancient traditions still persist."

"We find Japan a little more difficult to understand because it has proven its 20th century prowess though the ancient traditions still persist."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Tradition, Traditions

5

"Well, I've always just - I've never really gone out looking for work. I always waited for it to sort of hit me on the head."

"Well, I've always just - I've never really gone out looking for work. I always waited for it to sort of hit me on the head."

Frank Gehry, American Architect

5

"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

5

"When drawings of the main buildings I have designed in the last five years are juxtaposed, the fact that they all involve the pursuit of certain configurations is obvious to anyone."

"When drawings of the main buildings I have designed in the last five years are juxtaposed, the fact that they all involve the pursuit of certain configurations is obvious to anyone."

Yoshio Taniguchi, Japanese Architect

Fact, Obvious, Pursuit, Years

5

"The new architecture of transparency and lightness comes from Japan and Europe."

"The new architecture of transparency and lightness comes from Japan and Europe."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

Architecture, Europe

5

"You should be having more fun in high school, exploring things because you want to explore them and learning because you love learning-not worrying about competition."

"You should be having more fun in high school, exploring things because you want to explore them and learning because you love learning-not worrying about competition."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Love, Competition, Fun, Learning

5

"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

5

"It was a requirement by the veterans to list the 57,000 names. We're reaching a time that we'll acknowledge the individual in a war on a national level."

"It was a requirement by the veterans to list the 57,000 names. We're reaching a time that we'll acknowledge the individual in a war on a national level."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Time, War, Names, Veterans

5

"But freedom, liberty, is an attribute of the soul and it may exist even when the body is in bondage."

"But freedom, liberty, is an attribute of the soul and it may exist even when the body is in bondage."

Ralph A. Cram, American Architect

Soul, Body, Freedom, Liberty

5

"In other words, I have no truck for anyone who goes out and does an eclectic building."

"In other words, I have no truck for anyone who goes out and does an eclectic building."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Building, Words

5

"The Great War was a progressive revelation and disillusionment."

"The Great War was a progressive revelation and disillusionment."

Ralph A. Cram, American Architect

War, Disillusionment

5

"So what we have tried to do in our later buildings is to try to be completely consistent, as a painter is consistent or as a sculptor is consistent. Architecture also must be very consistent."

"So what we have tried to do in our later buildings is to try to be completely consistent, as a painter is consistent or as a sculptor is consistent. Architecture also must be very consistent."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

5

"I'd say that my profession ends where architectural thinking ends - architectural thinking in terms of thinking about programs and organizational structure. These abstractions play a role in many other disciplines, and those disciplines are now defining their 'architectures' as well."

"I'd say that my profession ends where architectural thinking ends - architectural thinking in terms of thinking about programs and organizational structure. These abstractions play a role in many other disciplines, and those disciplines are now defining their 'architectures' as well."

Rem Koolhaas, Dutch Architect

Now, Play, Profession, Thinking

5

"My dad was dean of fine arts at the university. I was casting bronzes in the school foundry. I was using the university as a playground."

"My dad was dean of fine arts at the university. I was casting bronzes in the school foundry. I was using the university as a playground."

Maya Lin, American Architect

Father, Dad, School, University

5

"And I feel that we in our society should not be held by any such myth; that we should do everything we can to gain a delight and joy in our society with all the available parts of the palette."

"And I feel that we in our society should not be held by any such myth; that we should do everything we can to gain a delight and joy in our society with all the available parts of the palette."

Minoru Yamasaki, American Architect

Society, Delight, Gain, Joy

5

"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

5

"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

5

"Some of your teachers are actually closer in age to you than you think."

"Some of your teachers are actually closer in age to you than you think."

Maya Lin, American Architect

5

"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

5

"In Europe, they're more demanding, the ones that rent the build ings."

"In Europe, they're more demanding, the ones that rent the build ings."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

5

"I suppose and I hope that the young guys who are out there losing their lives at least feel the same way I did. I shouldn't think about this very much because I'm almost weeping when I think about it."

"I suppose and I hope that the young guys who are out there losing their lives at least feel the same way I did. I shouldn't think about this very much because I'm almost weeping when I think about it."

Lawrence Halprin, American Architect

Hope, Losing, Weeping

5

"Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins."

"Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins."

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, American Architect

5

"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

5

"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger."

"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

5

"The Lincoln Memorial is related to the toga and the civilization that wore it."

"The Lincoln Memorial is related to the toga and the civilization that wore it."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

5

"Liquid architecture. It's like jazz - you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something. And I think it's a way of - for me, it's a way of trying to understand the city, and what might happen in the city."

"Liquid architecture. It's like jazz - you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something. And I think it's a way of - for me, it's a way of trying to understand the city, and what might happen in the city."

Frank Gehry, American Architect

Work, Architecture, Jazz, Play

5

"As the power of Christianity declined through the centuries that have followed the Reformation, Calvinism played a less and less important part, while the new philosophies of mechanism and rationalism correspondingly increased."

"As the power of Christianity declined through the centuries that have followed the Reformation, Calvinism played a less and less important part, while the new philosophies of mechanism and rationalism correspondingly increased."

Ralph A. Cram, American Architect

Power, Christianity

5

"My brother Jim and I saw our father go into the jails and pray with the inmates Sunday after Sunday. He prayed with both blacks and whites. If we ever repeated any slurs we heard on the playground, he'd tell us very softly, "I don't want to hear those words.""

"My brother Jim and I saw our father go into the jails and pray with the inmates Sunday after Sunday. He prayed with both blacks and whites. If we ever repeated any slurs we heard on the playground, he'd tell us very softly, "I don't want to hear those words.""

Charles Moore, American Architect

Father, Brother, Want, Words

5

"We must always take from nature what we paint and always choose the most beautiful things."

"We must always take from nature what we paint and always choose the most beautiful things."

Leon Battista Alberti, Italian Architect

5

"Great buildings that move the spirit have always been rare. In every case they are unique, poetic, products of the heart."

"Great buildings that move the spirit have always been rare. In every case they are unique, poetic, products of the heart."

Arthur Erickson, Canadian Architect

5

"The Romans used every housing form known today and they have a remarkably modern look."

"The Romans used every housing form known today and they have a remarkably modern look."

Stephen Gardiner, British Architect

5

"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

5

"When I came to America in the '60s, it was the place to be. I wonder if I'd come here today."

"When I came to America in the '60s, it was the place to be. I wonder if I'd come here today."

Helmut Jahn, German Architect

America, Today, Wonder

5

"Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders' spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground."

"Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders' spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground."

Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect

Character, Strength, Environment, Light

5

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