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Quotes by Architect

"I think there is a new awareness in this 21st century that design is as important to where and how we live as it is for museums, concert halls and civic buildings."
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Daniel Libeskind
"I think there is a new awareness in this 21st century that design is as important to where and how we live as it is for museums, concert halls and civic buildings."
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13
"The further forward we go, the further back we have to explore in order to go forward again."
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Stephen Gardiner
"The further forward we go, the further back we have to explore in order to go forward again."
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13
"It is quite interesting that whilst there are tremendous theories, in the 1960s when IT was born, everybody was supposedly going to their cottage in the countryside to work in a virtual way."
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Richard Rogers
"It is quite interesting that whilst there are tremendous theories, in the 1960s when IT was born, everybody was supposedly going to their cottage in the countryside to work in a virtual way."
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13
"Of all the lessons most relevant to architecture today, Japanese flexibility is the greatest."
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Stephen Gardiner
"Of all the lessons most relevant to architecture today, Japanese flexibility is the greatest."
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13
"I received a grant from The Ford Foundation to write a book for kids about urban perception, or how people experience cities, but I kept putting off writing it. Instead I started to write what became The Phantom Tollbooth."
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Norton Juster
"I received a grant from The Ford Foundation to write a book for kids about urban perception, or how people experience cities, but I kept putting off writing it. Instead I started to write what became The Phantom Tollbooth."
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13
"And then, build a bustling wonderful city of the 21st century, with a restoration of a spectacular skyline, which Manhattan, of course, needs. So, that is really the design as a whole."
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Daniel Libeskind
"And then, build a bustling wonderful city of the 21st century, with a restoration of a spectacular skyline, which Manhattan, of course, needs. So, that is really the design as a whole."
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13
"The garden, by design, is concerned with both the interior and the land beyond the garden."
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Stephen Gardiner
"The garden, by design, is concerned with both the interior and the land beyond the garden."
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13
"What is the thread of western civilization that distinguished its course in history? It has to do with the preoccupation of western man with his outward command and his sense of superiority."
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Arthur Erickson
"What is the thread of western civilization that distinguished its course in history? It has to do with the preoccupation of western man with his outward command and his sense of superiority."
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13
"The straight line leads to the downfall of humanity."
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Friedensreich Hundert
"The straight line leads to the downfall of humanity."
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13
"You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you take a cab just to go around the corner."
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Helmut Jahn
"You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you take a cab just to go around the corner."
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13
"After World War II great strides were made in modern Japanese architecture, not only in advanced technology, allowing earthquake resistant tall buildings, but expressing and infusing characteristics of traditional Japanese architecture in modern buildings."
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Harry Seidler
"After World War II great strides were made in modern Japanese architecture, not only in advanced technology, allowing earthquake resistant tall buildings, but expressing and infusing characteristics of traditional Japanese architecture in modern buildings."
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13
"Each building has to be beautiful, but cheap and fast, but it lasts forever. That is already an incredible battery of seemingly contradictory demands. So yes, I'm definitely perhaps contradictory person, but I operate in very contradictory times."
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Rem Koolhaas
"Each building has to be beautiful, but cheap and fast, but it lasts forever. That is already an incredible battery of seemingly contradictory demands. So yes, I'm definitely perhaps contradictory person, but I operate in very contradictory times."
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13
"In setting out the walls of a city the choice of a healthy situation is of the first importance: it should be on high ground, neither subject to fogs nor rains; its aspects should be neither violently hot nor intensely cold, but temperate in both respects."
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Marcus V. Pollio
"In setting out the walls of a city the choice of a healthy situation is of the first importance: it should be on high ground, neither subject to fogs nor rains; its aspects should be neither violently hot nor intensely cold, but temperate in both respects."
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13
"I'm not Candide, nor Dr Pangloss, but we know that faith moves mountains."
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Daniel Libeskind
"I'm not Candide, nor Dr Pangloss, but we know that faith moves mountains."
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13
"All I know is that these two gases both had a quite extraordinary effect, and that there was no respirator, and no protection against them that we knew of. So the soldiers would have been unable to protect themselves against this gas in any way."
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Albert Speer
"All I know is that these two gases both had a quite extraordinary effect, and that there was no respirator, and no protection against them that we knew of. So the soldiers would have been unable to protect themselves against this gas in any way."
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13
"So we can't go backwards, we can only go where the evolutionary trajectory is taking us and attune our ideas about ourselves and our existence to that course."
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Thom Mayne
"So we can't go backwards, we can only go where the evolutionary trajectory is taking us and attune our ideas about ourselves and our existence to that course."
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13
"Music assists him in the use of harmonic and mathematical proportion."
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Marcus V. Pollio
"Music assists him in the use of harmonic and mathematical proportion."
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13
"Well, I think one doesn't really have to invent this memorial space, because it is already there. And it is speaking with a voice and, you know, 4 million of us came to see the site."
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Daniel Libeskind
"Well, I think one doesn't really have to invent this memorial space, because it is already there. And it is speaking with a voice and, you know, 4 million of us came to see the site."
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13
"There is a single thread of attitude, a single direction of flow, that joins our present time to its early burgeoning in Mediterranean civilization."
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Arthur Erickson
"There is a single thread of attitude, a single direction of flow, that joins our present time to its early burgeoning in Mediterranean civilization."
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13
"I don't want to be interesting. I want to be good."
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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
"I don't want to be interesting. I want to be good."
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13
"I have been wounded like this since about half past eight this morning and I will tell you how it happened."
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Francesco Borromini
"I have been wounded like this since about half past eight this morning and I will tell you how it happened."
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13
"Like flats of today, terraces of houses gained a certain anonymity from identical facades following identical floor plans and heights."
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Stephen Gardiner
"Like flats of today, terraces of houses gained a certain anonymity from identical facades following identical floor plans and heights."
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13
"We will work with everybody for the good of New York."
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Daniel Libeskind
"We will work with everybody for the good of New York."
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13
"If you look at the buildings, you'll find that one part looks as if it was designed by one man, and you go around and look at another facade and it looks as if it was designed by another man, you see."
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Minoru Yamasaki
"If you look at the buildings, you'll find that one part looks as if it was designed by one man, and you go around and look at another facade and it looks as if it was designed by another man, you see."
Man,
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13
"A free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it."
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Frank Lloyd Wright
"A free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it."
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13
"The worst-tempered people I've ever met were the people who knew they were wrong."
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Addison Mizner
"The worst-tempered people I've ever met were the people who knew they were wrong."
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13
"All sensible Army people turned gas warfare down as being utterly insane since, in view of your superiority in the air, it would not be long before it would bring the most terrible catastrophe upon German cities, which were completely unprotected."
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Albert Speer
"All sensible Army people turned gas warfare down as being utterly insane since, in view of your superiority in the air, it would not be long before it would bring the most terrible catastrophe upon German cities, which were completely unprotected."
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13
"Rome has not seen a modern building in more than half a century. It is a city frozen in time."
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Richard Meier
"Rome has not seen a modern building in more than half a century. It is a city frozen in time."
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13
"For me the meaning of my work is much more fluid."
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Thom Mayne
"For me the meaning of my work is much more fluid."
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13
"Fifty years ago people were talking about Sydney's sprawl, but nobody does anything about it."
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Harry Seidler
"Fifty years ago people were talking about Sydney's sprawl, but nobody does anything about it."
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13
"I, therefore, O Caesar, do not publish this work, merely prefixing my name to a treatise which of right belongs to others, nor think of acquiring reputation by finding fault with the works of any one."
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Marcus V. Pollio
"I, therefore, O Caesar, do not publish this work, merely prefixing my name to a treatise which of right belongs to others, nor think of acquiring reputation by finding fault with the works of any one."
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13
"Only when inspired to go beyond consciousness by some extraordinary insight does beauty manifest unexpectedly."
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Arthur Erickson
"Only when inspired to go beyond consciousness by some extraordinary insight does beauty manifest unexpectedly."
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13
"No wonder the film industry started in the desert in California where, like all desert dwellers, they dream their buildings, rather than design them."
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Arthur Erickson
"No wonder the film industry started in the desert in California where, like all desert dwellers, they dream their buildings, rather than design them."
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13
"Because the quality of living with nature and allowing it to manifest itself is different than the quality of living in a city, especially a dense city."
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Lawrence Halprin
"Because the quality of living with nature and allowing it to manifest itself is different than the quality of living in a city, especially a dense city."
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13
"The government only makes restrictive rules, they don't show you what to do so you know, OK, here's where we need this many apartments, with open space, playgrounds, kindergartens."
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Harry Seidler
"The government only makes restrictive rules, they don't show you what to do so you know, OK, here's where we need this many apartments, with open space, playgrounds, kindergartens."
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13
"Economy consists in a due and proper application of the means afforded according to the ability of the employer and the situation chosen; care being taken that the expenditure is prudently conducted."
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Marcus V. Pollio
"Economy consists in a due and proper application of the means afforded according to the ability of the employer and the situation chosen; care being taken that the expenditure is prudently conducted."
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13
"Architects are pretty much high-class whores. We can turn down projects the way they can turn down some clients, but we've both got to say yes to someone if we want to stay in business."
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Philip Johnson
"Architects are pretty much high-class whores. We can turn down projects the way they can turn down some clients, but we've both got to say yes to someone if we want to stay in business."
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13
"Bankers cannot afford to be concerned with only the economic aspects of projects. There may be serious implications on the natural environment, the urban environment, on human culture."
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Arthur Erickson
"Bankers cannot afford to be concerned with only the economic aspects of projects. There may be serious implications on the natural environment, the urban environment, on human culture."
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13
"Critics are entitled to have an opinion, but how can they judge how comfortable a building is? No critic is smart enough to judge how a building will perform over time."
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Helmut Jahn
"Critics are entitled to have an opinion, but how can they judge how comfortable a building is? No critic is smart enough to judge how a building will perform over time."
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"Modernism released us from the constraints of everything that had gone before with a euphoric sense of freedom."
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Arthur Erickson
"Modernism released us from the constraints of everything that had gone before with a euphoric sense of freedom."
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"The architecture profession has lost a lot of its integrity, especially in the USA. The general architect here has no scruples, no ambitions."
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Helmut Jahn
"The architecture profession has lost a lot of its integrity, especially in the USA. The general architect here has no scruples, no ambitions."
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"I don't see that any buildings should be excluded from the term architecture, as long as they are done properly."
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Arne Jacobsen
"I don't see that any buildings should be excluded from the term architecture, as long as they are done properly."
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"Architecture is involved with the world, but at the same time it has a certain autonomy. This autonomy cannot be explained in terms of traditional logic because the most interesting parts of the work are non-verbal. They operate within the terms of the work, like any art."
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Thom Mayne
"Architecture is involved with the world, but at the same time it has a certain autonomy. This autonomy cannot be explained in terms of traditional logic because the most interesting parts of the work are non-verbal. They operate within the terms of the work, like any art."
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12
"I had lived in Fukuoka during the mid 1990s, and I was a volunteer with the Fukuoka Asian Film Festival."
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John Foster
"I had lived in Fukuoka during the mid 1990s, and I was a volunteer with the Fukuoka Asian Film Festival."
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"Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die."
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Daniel Burnham
"Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die."
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"Large-scale public projects require the agreement of large numbers of people."
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Thom Mayne
"Large-scale public projects require the agreement of large numbers of people."
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12
"True as this is, it is also true that for one who won through there were many who gained nothing, and it was, and is, the sheer weight of numbers of those who failed of this that has made their influence on the modern life as pervasive and controlling as it is."
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Ralph A. Cram
"True as this is, it is also true that for one who won through there were many who gained nothing, and it was, and is, the sheer weight of numbers of those who failed of this that has made their influence on the modern life as pervasive and controlling as it is."
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"Life it is not just a series of calculations and a sum total of statistics, it's about experience, it's about participation, it is something more complex and more interesting than what is obvious."
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Daniel Libeskind
"Life it is not just a series of calculations and a sum total of statistics, it's about experience, it's about participation, it is something more complex and more interesting than what is obvious."
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"Nothing requires the architect's care more than the due proportions of buildings."
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Marcus V. Pollio
"Nothing requires the architect's care more than the due proportions of buildings."
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"And I think one of the tasks that I always feel is how to get that vision out of them. Not exactly what they want, but what they want to accomplish for themselves or their community or their family."
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Lawrence Halprin
"And I think one of the tasks that I always feel is how to get that vision out of them. Not exactly what they want, but what they want to accomplish for themselves or their community or their family."
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