I probably spent the first 20 years of my life wanting to be as American as possible. Through my 20s, and into my 30s, I began to become aware of how so much of my art and architecture has a decidedly Eastern character.

If we can't face death, we'll never overcome it. You have to look it straight in the eye. Then you can turn around and walk back out into the light.

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

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

For the most part things never get built the way they were drawn.

I think I've always had an activist stance, yet at the same time, the other side of me - and this is where some people just don't get it, or they'd prefer it if the work was a lot uglier, a lot louder - I have this personality where I just want to put something out that's a fact and then let you interpret it. It's almost as if you might barely notice it, you might walk right by it, but you have to pay attention.

I loved logic, math, computer programming. I loved systems and logic approaches. And so I just figured architecture is this perfect combination.