Of course, I have given my engineers some headaches over the years, but they go with me. I have always wanted my buildings to be as light as possible, to touch the ground gently, to swoop and soar, and to surprise.

I search for surprise in my architecture. A work of art should cause the emotion of newness.

What attracts me are free and sensual curves. The curves we find in mountains, in the waves of the sea, in the body of the woman we love.

I pick up my pen. It flows. A building appears. There it is. There is nothing more to say.

Surprise is key in all art.

It was the drawing that led me to architecture, the search for light and astonishing forms.

I was attracted by the curve — the liberated, sensual curve suggested by the possibilities of new technology yet so often recalled in venerable old baroque churches.