David Chipperfield Quotes & Sayings

“If you look at a building by Mies van der Rohe, it might look very simple, but up close, the sheer quality of construction, materials and thought are inspirational.”

“It used to be presumed that if you weren't at your desk working, you weren't working, But we said, 'Why can't we make a workplace where casual meetings are as important as working at your desk?' Sometimes that's where your better creative work happens.”

“I think that the point of being an architect is to help raise the experience of everyday living, even a little. Putting a window where people would really like one. Making sure a shaving mirror in a hotel bathroom is at the right angle. Making bureaucratic buildings that are somehow cheerful.”

“The difference between good and bad architecture is the time you spend on it.”

“Seeing architecture differently from the way you see the rest of life is a bit weird. I believe one should be consistent in all that one does, from the books you read to the way you bring up your children. Everything you do is connected.”

“I do quite like Gehry's Guggenheim. But where in Bilbao it's seen as an outgrowth of years of investment in urban design and engineering, in Britain it's seen as the catalyst for urban regeneration rather than the icing on the cake.”

“I'm suspicious of the idea of architects acting like business executives, brand managers, or purveyors of luxury goods.”

“It is difficult to separate oneself from one's design moralities.”

“Most architects work in studios largely divorced from academia, as if ideas, criticism and historical research were irrelevant.”

“You don't restore 'The Last Supper' by filling in the missing bits - you preserve. You accept the material that has somehow survived.”