I remember, as a young architect, people always talked about I. M. Pei's concrete. He had a particular specification no one else knew.

When everything is perfectly orderly and understandable, there has to be one thing that puts everything into question.

What I do isn't radical. It's just distinct in small ways.

So much of what makes a room great is how you enter and circulate through it, how it addresses the body.

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'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.

One of the things I've always loved about New York is there is so much precedent for ornament on industrial buildings.