You've got to like the people you work with.

People say, "This is the world the way it is, and don't bother me." Then when somebody does something different, real architecture, the push-back is amazing. People resist it. At first it's new and scary.

That's where you have to look for your inspiration. Don't separate the rest of your life - who you are, what you love - from your work.

You have to be optimistic. I still have doubts and conflicts, but the bottom line is, I believe in the future.

An architect is given a program, budget, place, and schedule. Sometimes the end product rises to art - or at least people call it that.

One of my greatest influences is the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

If you're serious about being an architect, you've got to learn how to take responsibility. It's not fluff. You have to do every detail on every bloody piece of the building. You have to know how the engineering works. You have to know how the fittings go together. You have to master the mechanical, electrical, acoustical - everything.