One of the real challenges, since we're working in so many places - Mexico, Japan, Brazil - is understanding variations, both in terms of culture and context.

I think white is the most wonderful color of all, because within it one can find every color of the rainbow.

For me [ Giovanni Lorenzo ] Bernini, [Francesco ] Borromini, and [Donato] Bramante have been as significant as Alvar Aalto, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn. I still marvel at their works, which have a quality and a timelessness that I seek to have in our projects.

Rome has not seen a modern building in more than half a century. It is a city frozen in time.

The responsibility of an architect is to create a sense of order, a sense of place, a sense of relationship.

Ultimately it's the public nature of those projects that I most enjoy. Museums are more than just places to view art, they're also civic and social centers.

You can't escape the influence of architectural history.