The computer offers another kind of creativity. You cannot ignore the creativity that computer technology can bring. But you need to be able to move between those two different worlds.

I like ruins because what remains is not the total design, but the clarity of thought, the naked structure, the spirit of the thing.

In the West there has always been the attempt to try make the religious building, whether it's a Medieval or Renaissance church, an eternal object for the celebration of God. The material chosen, such as stone, brick, or concrete, is meant to eternally preserve what is inside.

You cannot simply put something new into a place. You have to absorb what you see around you, what exists on the land, and then use that knowledge along with contemporary thinking to interpret what you see.

Japanese architecture is traditionally based on wooden structures that need renovating on a regular basis.

If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness.

Look at London or Paris: they're both filthy. You don't get that in Tokyo. The proud residents look after their city.