My father was an urchin that lived in Hell's Kitchen. He was part of a family of nine. I mean, there were times that were better and worse, but mostly, by the time we got to L.A., they'd lost whatever they had. And it was a sad time. And both he and I became truck drivers for different companies.

People are searching for something they don't have in their lives. There's an unfulfilled need.

There is stuff I would have liked to have done. But there are no sour grapes.

I'm going to design the container and interior spaces. You bring your own stuff to it and make it your own.

People ask me if I'm an artist or an architect. But I think they're the same.

I'm preprogrammed emotionally and intellectually not to go down blind alleys. I don't waste the time. I automatically edit out whatever's impractical.

What I have learned about museum buildings is that buildings have to have iconic presentations. The position of the art museum vis-a-vis other civic buildings needs to be hierarchal in the community. It has to be equal to the library and the courthouse.