Ninety percent of the buildings we live in and around aren't architecture. No, that's not right - 98 percent.

If you're serious about being an architect, you've got to learn how to take responsibility. It's not fluff. You have to do every detail on every bloody piece of the building. You have to know how the engineering works. You have to know how the fittings go together. You have to master the mechanical, electrical, acoustical - everything.

In the end, the character of a civilization is encased in its structures.

Chicago's one of the rare places where architecture is more visible.

My father always told me that I was going to be a failure - I think he was more talking about himself, but I didn't know it at the time.

Democracy is a problem and we don't want to get rid of it.

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