I hate the word starchitect. Stuff like that comes from mean-spirited, untalented journalists. It's demeaning.

Man, there's another freedom out there, and it comes from somewhere else, and that somewhere else is the place I'm interested in.

The safety requirements, which are necessary, spread everything out and push people farther and farther away from the stage and from each other.

I don't know why people hire architects and then tell them what to do.

Creativity is about play and a kind of willingness to go with your intuition. It's crucial to an artist. If you know where you are going and what you are going to do, why do it? I think I learned that from the artists, from my grandmother, from all the creative people I've spent time with over the years.

You can't ignore history; you can't escape it even if you want to. You might as well know where you come from, and you might as well know that everything has been done in some shape or form.

I found myself starting architecture with a deep social, Jewish, liberal conscience, and the belief that architecture is for the people. It was a do-gooder base; I was born and raised that way. I was for blacks, whites, Italians, Poles, whatever.