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.

The culture of France is unique because it's a culture that has a high priority on the arts, more than any other place in the world in our time since Greece. So as a practicing artist, if you will, this is home ground. They love us, so music, literature, art continues to be the center.

It should begin much earlier with arts education in the American school system, which is sadly deficient.

Your best work is your expression of yourself. Now, you may not be the greatest at it, but when you do it, you're the only expert.

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.

For me, every day is a new thing. I approach each project with a new insecurity, almost like the first project I ever did. And I get the sweats. I go in and start working, I'm not sure where I'm going. If I knew where I was going I wouldn't do it.