Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.

I attended a lecture by a gray-haired old man from Finland, who later I discovered was the architect Alvar Aalto. I was very moved. I wasn't interested in architecture, but it was a moving thing I've never forgotten.

If you know where it's going, it's not worth doing.

When I start my class I ask the students to write their signatures on pieces of paper and put them on a table. I have them look at them, and I point out, "They're all different, aren't they? That's you, that's you, that's you, that's you."

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

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.

A well-designed home has to be very comfortable. I can't stand the aesthetes, the minimal thing. I can't live that way. My home has to be filled with stuff - mostly paintings, sculpture, my fish lamps, cardboard furniture, lots of books.