You don't know what the Chinese expect in the way of beauty. The presentation is just a farce. You come into a room filled with 50 people and they don't talk to you. There's very little interaction.

Chinese buildings are like American buildings, with big footprints. People don't care about daylight or fresh air.

Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the inessential than with inventing something new.

A building is hard to judge. It takes many years to find out whether it works. It's not as simple as asking the people in the office whether they like it.

A good engineer thinks in reverse and asks himself about the stylistic consequences of the components and systems he proposes.

When I came to America in the '60s, it was the place to be. I wonder if I'd come here today.

The American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture.