Tension is an interesting quality - and architecture must have it. There should be elements of the inexplicable, the mysterious, and the poetic in something that is perfectly rational.
One of the things I've always loved about New York is there is so much precedent for ornament on industrial buildings.
When you have rules to abide by, does that curtail you as a designer, or set you free? People think of classical architecture visually, but I think the brilliant part of it is actually spatial.
I was brought up to reuse things.
Architecture is about aging well, about precision and authenticity. There is much more to the success of a building than what you can see. Im not suggesting that gestural architecture is always superficial, but solid reasoning has its place.
All clients think that they are architects.
I'm inspired by looking at art, by looking at precedent. Looking is what you have to do if you want to make things, so you develop a critical eye.
When everything is perfectly orderly and understandable, there has to be one thing that puts everything into question.
To me, the nicest luxury would be to have a room where I could keep all my books in one place - and have space for more.
I make spaces that are calm rather than confrontational. I seek a certain kind of logic that allows you to move in space and perceive it as beautiful and rational. Clarity is a worthwhile quality.
What I do isn't radical. It's just distinct in small ways.
The secret of good architecture is having more than meets the eye.
So much of what makes a room great is how you enter and circulate through it, how it addresses the body.
I think when you look at architectural photography it doesn't help to have piles of old clothes lying on the floor. Architectural photography sets up an artifice.
There's no architect who doesn't want to build a library - and I am no different. With so much scrutiny now attached to reading - because of technology and how we approach it as a social activity - that is a very exciting area in architecture.
I'm not so interested in technology for technology's sake. I don't need incredibly sophisticated climate-control systems. And I'm absolutely amazed at the time people spend exchanging messages; I don't have a lot of time left over for those things.
I never like things that don't look nice. It's really that simple.
I know I'm old-fashioned, but there's just something about the act of looking at books versus taking in information on a screen, which is so one-dimensional. There's a sense of ownership that you have with books, a physical connection.
I remember, as a young architect, people always talked about I. M. Pei's concrete. He had a particular specification no one else knew.
