To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom.

Some of your teachers are actually closer in age to you than you think.

My parents are both college professors, and it made me want to question authority, standards and traditions.

Even though I build buildings and I pursue my architecture, I pursue it as an artist. I deliberately keep a tiny studio. I don't want to be an architectural firm. I want to remain an artist.

I like to think of my work as creating a private conversation with each person, no matter how public each work is and no matter how many people are present

I'm as much interested in the form-making as well as getting you to think about what we're doing to the world around us.

When I was very little, we would get letters from China, in Chinese, and they' be censored. We were a very insular little family.