In those countries with centuries of a craft tradition behind their building methods, techniques are tightly coordinated under the direction of the architect.

We settled this continent without art. So it was easy for us to treat it as an imported luxury, not a necessity.

Does an architecture to assuage the spirit have a place in all this? Unfortunately we are no longer the interpreters of our culture's myths but the followers of that dubious client, the developer, who has little patience with the art of architecture, the fine detail and obscure promise, which can upset his financial activity.

The tourist transports his own values and demands to his destinations and implants them like an infectious disease, decimating whatever values existed before.

Profit and bottom line, the contemporary mantra, eliminates the very source of architectural expression.

The Renaissance is studded by the names of the artists and architects, with their creations recorded as great historical events.

The innovative spirit was America's strongest attribute, transforming everything into a brave new world, but there lingered an insecurity about the arts.