I had some good opportunities. I was lucky to have had the chance to do things differently. Architecture is about surprise.

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

I am a Brazilian before I am an architect. I cannot separate the two.

Architecture does not change anything. It's always on the side of the wealthy. The important thing is to believe that it can make life better.

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.

I deliberately disregarded the right angle and rationalist architecture designed with ruler and square to boldly enter the world of curves and straight lines offered by reinforced concrete... This deliberate protest arose from the environment in which I lived, with its white beaches, its huge mountains, its old baroque churches, and the beautiful suntanned women.

When I was very little my mother said I used to draw in the air with my fingers. I needed a pencil. Once I could hold one, I have drawn every day since.