“Great buildings that move the spirit have always been rare. In every case they are unique, poetic, products of the heart.”
Architecture
“After 1980, you never heard reference to space again. Surface, the most convincing evidence of the descent into materialism, became the focus of design. Space disappeared.”
DesignAll Quotes by Arthur Erickson
“The details are the very source of expression in architecture. But we are caught in a vice between art and the bottom line.”
Architecture“Western history has been a history of deed done, actions performed and results achieved.”
History“After 1980, you never heard reference to space again. Surface, the most convincing evidence of the descent into materialism, became the focus of design. Space disappeared.”
Design“Today's developer is a poor substitute for the committed entrepreneur of the last century for whom the work of architecture represented a chance to celebrate the worth of his enterprise.”
Architecture“No phenomenon can be isolated, but has repercussions through every aspect of our lives. We are learning that we are a fundamental part of nature's ecosystems.”
Learning“This great, though disastrous, culture can only change as we begin to stand off and see... the inveterate materialism which has become the model for cultures around the world.”
Change“We have today a fairly thorough knowledge of the early Greco-Roman period because our motivations are the same.”
Knowledge“Architecture doesn't come from theory. You don't think your way through a building.”
Architecture“There is a single thread of attitude, a single direction of flow, that joins our present time to its early burgeoning in Mediterranean civilization.”
Attitude“Only when inspired to go beyond consciousness by some extraordinary insight does beauty manifest unexpectedly.”
Beauty“You have to see a building to comprehend it. Photographs cannot convey the experience, nor film.”
Experience“The way of architecture is the quiet voice that underlies it and has guided it from the beginning.”
Architecture“Rationalism is the enemy of art, though necessary as a basis for architecture.”
Architecture“Roman civilization had achieved, within the bounds of its technology, relatively as great a mastery of time and space as we have achieved today.”
Technology“We are stymied by regulations, limited choice and the threat of litigation. Neither consultants nor industry itself provide research which takes architecture forward.”
Architecture“I plead for conservation of human culture, which is much more fragile than nature herself. We needn't destroy other cultures with the force of our own.”
Nature“The new architecture of transparency and lightness comes from Japan and Europe.”
Architecture“Does an architecture to assuage the spirit have a place?”
Architecture“No wonder the film industry started in the desert in California where, like all desert dwellers, they dream their buildings, rather than design them.”
Design