Architects sometimes have amusing, interesting, and at times even profound things to say:
I hate vacations. If you can build buildings, why sit on the beach? – Philip Johnson (1906-2005)
I am deeply impressed with the designer of the universe; I am confident I couldn’t have done anywhere near such a good job.
– Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)
I pick up my pen. It flows. A building appears. There is nothing more to say.
– Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012)
I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.
– Le Corbusier (1887-1965)
For a long time Friedrich Achleitner thought about whether he wanted to be a poet or an architect; and then he shaved his head, put on a straw hat, and said he was an architect. And he said he had to decide: architecture or literature. And then I said: You could also decide to do architecture and literature. And after several years that’s what he decided to do.
– Hans Hollein (1934 – )
Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies, for instance. – John Ruskin (1819-1900)
Less is more. – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)
I always try to think in curves. – Greg Lynn (1964 – )
Form ever follows function. – Louis Sullivan (1856-1924)
Walter Gropius came to see me at my house at Canoas above Rio. I designed it in a sequence of natural curves to flow in and out of the existing landscape. He said, it’s beautiful, but it can’t be mass produced. As if I had intended such a thing. What an idiot. – Oscar Neimeyer (1907-2012)
I’ll plan anything a man wants, from a cathedral to a chicken coop. That’s the way I make my living. – Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886)
Don’t ever turn down a job because it’s beneath you. – Julia Morgan (1872-1957)
Something as common as house paint can be exciting when polished to a mirror finish. – Tod Williams (1943 – )
I am always searching for more light and space. – Santiago Calatrava (1951 – )
People who build their own home tend to be very courageous. These people are curious about life. They’re thinking about what it means to live in a house, rather than just buying a commodity and making it work. – Tom Kundig (1954 – )