I do my best to choose carefully. If I don’t feel that collaboration is going to happen, I say no. Think about it. These projects can involve a five-to-seven-year partnership. If you don’t feel comfortable with someone, you can’t get rid of them. I just walked away from a job for that reason. Every one of these projects is an emotional investment, like falling in love. You’ve got to believe in it and you’ve got to like the people you work with.

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.

In an ideal world, pressure should come from below and from the top.

Ideas exist in the marketplace; they are thrown out for everyone to use.

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

I promised a lot of people I'd slow down when I turned 80.

I'm a do-gooder liberal.