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

There are people who design buildings that are not technically and financially good, and there are those who do. Two categories - simple.

Art is about people. I think the discussion about whether architecture is art or not is lamebrain.

Architecture and any art can transform a person, even save someone. It can for children - for anyone. It still does for me.

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.

Time is just a blur for me. I don't know what - I don't even know where I am sometimes.

When people condemn me for designing iconic buildings in cities and not having an idea what a city is, they haven't done their homework. I started in urban design and city planning. It's just that when I got out of school there wasn't much of a market for that. There still isn't.