Yesterday is always better than today and the fear of tomorrow. I don't think there's anything absolutely wrong with that, it's just the way we are. So when people are presented with something new, there is a very visceral reaction.

I'm a passionate person, and I care deeply about the work I do. It's very, very important to me that it's well received.

It's really important that we not replicate what came before us, but we do something of our own, that's reflective of our own time, of contemporary society.

When we're dealing with historic buildings, we don't replicate, but we try to be subordinate and be deferential to them.

Public commentary absolutely influences my work.

If we are to believe or accept that buildings are cultural markers, if architects work in a vacuum with their own preconceptions about society, then we won't be creating appropriate cultural markers.

We have to respond to budget concerns, we have to respond to functional and programmatic concerns of the building, and we have to respond to public engagement. That's what you sign up for when you decide to become an architect.