I grew up in a craftsman's home, where things were done with our own hands. I did cabinetmaking for four years and I hated it.

I think the chance of finding beauty is higher if you don't work on it directly. Beauty in architecture is driven by practicality. This is what you learn from studying the old townscapes of the Swiss farmers.

Architecture to me is whole. I cannot say I only care about this 25% and the other 75% I let go... it's just I want to work the way I want to work. In my shop, you can order certain things and other things you cannot. They are not available.

I grew up in a craftsman's home, where things were done with our own hands. I did cabinetmaking for four years and I hated it.

When I concentrate on a specific site or place for which I am going to design a building, I try to plumb its depths, its form, its history and its sensuous qualities.

Architecture is exposed to life. If its body is sensitive enough, it can assume a quality that bears witness to past life.

I need a close contact to the client, whoever it is, and a commitment of the client to go out and do a process together. I want to do the best for him. I need his respect and his patience. I want to work with a sophisticated person who's interested in a good building and not in my name.