Most architects say: I want to use this type of glass, even if it's too reflective or doesn't let enough light in. However, the use of a certain type of glass might change the comfort level.

You don't know what the Chinese expect in the way of beauty. The presentation is just a farce. You come into a room filled with 50 people and they don't talk to you. There's very little interaction.

You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you take a cab just to go around the corner.

For me, though, the fun is over when I get the job.

Most architects say: I want to use this type of glass, even if it's too reflective or doesn't let enough light in. However, the use of a certain type of glass might change the comfort level.

In Europe, architects consider themselves artists. They think they're special when they win a competition.

The American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture.

We want our buildings to work like a machine that will create a pleasurable environment.

America has always imported history.

When I think of some of my earlier work, it really seems a fortunate coincidence that I succeeded.

I've never looked at a suburban building as being a minor building and an urban building as being a major building.

I strive for an architecture from which nothing can be taken away.

In Europe, they're more demanding, the ones that rent the build ings.

A building is hard to judge. It takes many years to find out whether it works. It's not as simple as asking the people in the office whether they like it.

Sometimes I have to accept a job I don't really want. Hardly anybody comes up to you with a commission; it's all competitions these days.

Every building is a prototype. No two are alike.

Higher ceilings allow the use indirect lighting, which is much healthier and reduces glare.

Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the inessential than with inventing something new.

We are creating a unique experience. It's starts with how you see the building from a distance.

A city building, you experience when you walk; a suburban building, you experience when you drive.

Critics are entitled to have an opinion, but how can they judge how comfortable a building is? No critic is smart enough to judge how a building will perform over time.

We prefer synthetic rather than natural materials. Natural products are almost too valuable. Wood is much harder to produce than metal. And metal is recyclable, while wood isn't.

I think the younger generation, the people poised to dominate the workforce, are more socially conscious. They are more demanding in terms of environment and how that environment contributes to their life.

German and English firms operate internationally, while French firms do not. The only place where they all have work is in China. Anybody can sell himself in China!

Transparency is not the same as looking straight through a building: it's not just a physical idea, it's also an intellectual one.

A good engineer thinks in reverse and asks himself about the stylistic consequences of the components and systems he proposes.

It's my goal to make a building as immaterial as possible. Architecture is a very material thing. It takes a lot of resources, so why not eliminate what you don't need as long as you're able to achieve the same result?

When I came to America in the '60s, it was the place to be. I wonder if I'd come here today.

The architecture profession has lost a lot of its integrity, especially in the USA. The general architect here has no scruples, no ambitions.

Chinese buildings are like American buildings, with big footprints. People don't care about daylight or fresh air.

I wanted to improve the suburban office building; to create a great urban space in a suburban environment with all that implies about interaction, collaboration and creativity.

For me, drawing generates thinking and vice versa.

I find if my body feels well and I exercise regularly, I think better, work better and feel better.

I think there will be a 200-story skyscraper someday. However, it will require a developer who will not think in conventional terms and for whom economic restraints won't apply.

IBM has a very solid business image.

Success on one project does not necessarily mean success in the next project. You've got to be prepared in everything you do.

When I work, I work very hard. When I don't work, I have to do something where my endeavor can totally take me off what I do professionally, like sailing. It takes all your attention.

Working is actually a pleasure. It's just very time-consuming. It's a way of life. I find that I can work when I travel and work when I run. There is nothing like, on a rainy day, to work.

A building is hard to judge. It takes many years to find out whether it works. Its not as simple as asking the people in the office whether they like it.

We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution.

I must stress here the point that I appreciate clarity, order, meaning, structure, rationality: they are necessary to whatever provisional stability we have, and they can be the agents of gradual and successful change.

Excuses change nothing, but make everyone feel better.

So, first you have to be able to play with a metronome. Then you take your freedom. If you play in an orchestra, you got to watch the conductor, he is like a metronome, but it is more difficult because he can change rhythms.

I wouldn't change Buffy for anything and I wouldn't change the course in which she has evolved but it is nice to be able to do something that is a little different.

For example, UNICEF works with governments to change legislation such as in India where a law was passed raising the age of compulsory school completion to keep children in school and away from the workplace for longer.

Great joy, especially after a sudden change of circumstances, is apt to be silent, and dwells rather in the heart than on the tongue.

I still feel that a movie has to attempt to say something - even if it fails miserably. But I've sort of given up on believing that I'm going to change the world with every film I choose to act in.

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.

You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life's about change.