There is still a real need for good quality architecture, not paper architecture, but the real stuff.

There is still a real need for good quality architecture, not paper architecture, but the real stuff.

Every time I imagine a garden in an architectural setting, it turns into a magical place. I think of gardens I have seen, that I believe I have seen, that I long to see, surrounded by simple walls, columns, arcades or the facades of buildings - sheltered places of great intimacy where I want to stay for a long time.

Presence is like a gap in the flow of history, where all of [a] sudden it is not past and not future.

If, early on, you know how things are put together, then you can build. The architect is in charge of making - he is not an artist.

I am convinced that a good building must be capable of absorbing the traces of human life and taking on a specific richness... I think of the patina of age on materials, of innumerable small scratches on surfaces, of varnish that has grown dull and brittle, and of edges polished by use.

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.