We live and work in boxes. People don't even notice that. Most of what's around us is banal. We live with it. We accept it as inevitable. People say, "This is the world the way it is, and don't bother me."

That's why you go into architecture - at least I did - to do things for people. I think most of us are idealists. You start out that way, anyway.

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

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.

I refuse to work unless I get paid, so I don't get a lot of work sometimes.

Those who say only artists and architects can create are the ones who are elitist.

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.