I once got a postcard from a French poet who wrote - "you don't know me but I'm always very grumpy when I get up in morning. But when I get up now I put the tea kettle on, and when it starts to sing it makes me smile - goddamn you!" That's what happened when we first designed it - we got a lot of mail.

I know that's not something that people like to do - identify a favorite. But I do.

I've always believed that what can make a domestic setting truly home is the infusion of a cultural dimension.

I learned in architecture that you have to have a real plan. You have to have a client, they have to have distribution, start-up money, and have a vision of where it's going to go. All this has to be settled before you start, or else your work is just a story.

I don't care what people call me, labels have the negative value of making smaller boundaries for people.

Architects love to rethink a project - that's what we do. If something is successful, like a house or a kettle, in this case, it's a great compliment when someone wants another one.

The Alessi relationship and the Target one has broadened the role of architects in society and broadened the concept that design belongs to everyone.