Alberto Alessi had asked a dozen architects to design a sterling silver tea service - with a teapot, a coffee pot, sugar, creamer, a spoon, and a tray. Our brief was that it didn't matter if it didn't work and cost wasn't the issue. It was a promotional project, not a commercial enterprise, and was going to be showcased in museums. And the coffee and tea piazza, as mine was called, received a great response. It was wonderful to walk into the Whitney museum and see all these objects on the first floor.

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.

Architectural and product designs have a narrative capacity - you can start to tell a story about them and imagine a lot of things.

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

The design of the building addresses the public nature of both the urban context and the internal program. In order to reinforce the building's associative or mimetic qualities, the facades are organized in a classical three-part division of base, middle or body, and attic or head.

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

In America, writers are afforded the freedom to express themselves in unlimited manners. Creative liberty is a privilege.