Some inspiring quotes from famous architects across the world.

Being an architect myself (junior level now), I realized that our verbal communication is very essential not only to convey some of our crazy design ideas but also to convince clients to get it built. Clients, they don’t appreciate your wonderful drawings. Besides than only being awed by beautiful computer renderings, clients generally don’t know how to read your sketches or plans. Hence, there’s this part for bullshitting by architect to help out in that situation. Fancy words, compelling adjectives, and voicing it out full of confidence, and in the end, there is a higher chance everyone would agree to you. It works.

That is part and parcel for others to trust you as an architect.

In the profession of many successful architects across the world, many of them do have had voiced out some very inspiring words of wisdom (or I simply called it bullshit again) usually when they were being interviewed. But we can actually learn something from those quotes by them. Some are very straightforward. While some are very meaningful and thought-provoking. Here you go:

‘Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.’ by Frank Gehry.

‘Less is more.’ by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

‘Architecture is a visual art, and the buildings speak for themselves.’ by Julia Morgan.

‘Every great architect is – necessarily – a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.’ by Frank Lloyd Wright.

‘All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.’ by Philip Johnson.

‘Building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony together.’ by Alvar Aalto.

‘A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.’ by Louis Kahn.

‘A house is a machine for living in.’ by Le Corbusier.

‘Form follows function.’ by Louis Sullivan.

‘To provide meaningful architecture is not to parody history but to articulate it.’ by Daniel Libeskind.

‘Space has always been the spiritual dimension of architecture. It is not the physical statement of the structure so much as what it contains that moves us.’ by Arthur Erickson.

‘Architecture is the thoughtful making of space.’ by Louis Kahn.

‘I work a little bit like a sculptor. When I start, my first idea for a building is with the material. I believe architecture is about that. It’s not about paper, it’s not about forms. It’s about space and material.’ by Peter Zumthor.

‘There’s a snobbery at work in architecture. The subject is too often treated as a fine art, delicately wrapped in mumbo-jumbo. In reality, it’s an all-embracing discipline taking in science, art, maths, engineering, climate, nature, politics, economics.’ by Norman Foster.

‘I search for surprise in my architecture. A work of art should cause the emotion of newness.’ by Oscar Niemeyer.

‘Architecture is a rare collective profession: it’s always exercised by groups. There is an essential modesty, which is a complete contradiction to the notion of a star.’ by Rem Koolhaas.

‘Frank Lloyd Wright made houses right up until the end. I think that’s important because it gives you a direct connection to all the basic aspects of architecture – the spatial energy of the place, the construction, the materials, the site, the detail.’ by Steven Holl.

‘The aesthetic of architecture has to be rooted in a broader idea about human activities like walking, relaxing and communicating. Architecture thinks about how these activities can be given added value.’ by Thom Mayne.

‘Architecture is how the person places herself in the space. Fashion is about how you place the object on the person.’ by Zaha Hadid.

‘As an architect, you design for the present with an awareness of the past for a future which is essentially unknown.’ by Norman Foster.

Take your time to digest the quotes above. Think about it. Learn from it, especially to those who are in architectural career. When you excel in the near future, then you would also have the chance to bullshit some great words like the ones above too. If you want to read more quotes from these famous architects, you can go to http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_architecture.html. A huge compilation over there.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

‘Titanic’ grossed over 2 billion after its re-release in 3D and is still on the run, ‘The Hunger Games’ becomes the highest grossing film of the year as of current

‘Titanic’ has finally made it, becoming one of the only two films in history that has grossed over 2 billion dollars respectively in box office. 2 billion is a very huge sum of figure, and it’s seriously very hard to reach that mark for films. The other film that has grossed over that figure years ago is ‘Avatar’, which gained a lot thanks to the prolonged theatrical run back in 2009 till 2010. ‘Titanic’ had already enjoyed very much success on its release in 1997, becoming the first film in history to reach 1 billion mark in grossing and the highest grossing film of all time for 12 years.

‘Titanic’ was also rated as one of the most epic films of our generation. Eventhough it grossed lesser than ‘Avatar’ by some few hundred millions as of current (‘Avatar’ grossed 2.782 billion), ‘Titanic’ won eleven Academy Awards, making it as one of the most successful films in Academy Awards, while ‘Avatar’ won only three in minor categories. It’s April 2012 now, this month marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of R.M.S. Titanic, which the 1997’s film ‘Titanic’ is based on. Hence, James Cameron decided to re-release the movie in 3D on this month in conjunction with that. Hence, the total grossing of the movie continues to increase now.

Previously, the total grossing of ‘Titanic’ was set at 1.8 billion. Two weeks after its re-release in 3D screens only, the movie grossed another 200 million, which made the total count of 2.059 billion as of current. It’s still 700 million away from ‘Avatar’ that leads the list of highest grossing films of all time. Due to its limited screening, I think ‘Titanic’ would not climb over ‘Avatar’ on that rank, but I believe people will never forget the ‘power’ that ‘Titanic’ has brought to us. Well, the top two films on the list are the only ones that gained over 2 billion in box office while the others are still very far behind with big margin, and both are also directed by James Cameron. Incredible!

For this year, the most successful film must be ‘The Hunger Games’ which is still available in the cinemas worldwide currently. It is the first film in 2012 that has passed 500 million (half a billion) mark in grossing and is also the first film since 2009’s ‘Avatar’ to place at No.1 for four consecutive weekends at domestic (United States) box office. Well, this film which is based on a book is enjoying great success currently, and I predict that it would grossed over 1 billion in the end. I have watched this film on its premiere day, and I like the movie very much. Hmm…but if compared with ‘Titanic’, I still prefer the latter more. Anyway, congratulations to both movies, ‘Titanic’ and ‘The Hunger Games’ for making such a good result not only in box office grossing but also in reviews and ratings.