You cannot defend your design without knowing what you’re designing for.
I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.
Life is architecture and architecture is the mirror of life.
Success is a collection of problems solved.
Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it’s not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I don’t want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots.
It is not an individual act, architecture. You have to consider your client. Only out of that can you produce great architecture. You cannot work in the abstract.
I want to bring out the best in a community and contribute something of permanent value.
Stop worrying about missed opportunities and start looking for new ones.
I haven’t taken any new projects in the past years – I told myself, if I cannot live long enough to finish it, I don’t want it.
Great artists need great clients.
I was born in Suzhou, a city not very far from Shanghai. It’s a very interesting town – there is a long artist’s tradition there, especially during the Ming and Ching dynasties, which produced many, many scholars and painters and so forth. That’s where my family lived for 600, 700 years.
I know something about the civilization of China, with my background, obviously, and I think I know something about American history. But that’s about all. And I’ve traveled all over the world, and for a long time I didn’t know very much about it, really.
I didn’t want to think about a project that I couldn’t finish. That’s a kind of temptation. One has to realize one’s limitations. Why kid yourself?
Let’s do it right. This is for the ages.
Many of the projects I’m most proud of are tall buildings, especially the housing projects. In New York I have two: one in Kips Bay and one at New York University. At that time, those projects were most challenging.
I travel to the Middle East, I travel to China, I travel to Europe. It’s all very rewarding – the only problem is the travel is getting more and more difficult for me now. Ten years ago I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
Be the best, not necessarily the original.
I cannot work and listen to Wagner at the same time, nor Mahler, nor Beethoven’s late quartets. I enjoy listening to Chopin’s piano music when I work.
At home, I have a wife, fortunately, and my children are all grown, and I have many grandchildren. I spend weekends with my grandchildren; I adore them.
For Kips Bay, I had a wonderful client, William Zeckendorf, who was willing to gamble with me on using concrete and not brick for a high-rise apartment building. That was very innovative at the time.