The Architect says - Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom

The Architect says - Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom. If there's anything architects like doing more than designing buildings, it's talking about architecture. Whether musing about their inspirations (a blank sheet of paper, the sun hitting the side of a building), expanding on each other's thoughts (on materials, collaboration, clients, and constraints), or dishing out a clever quip, architects make good copy.

The Architect Says is a colorful compendium of quotations from more than one hundred of history's most opinionated design minds. Paired on page spreads like guests at a dinner party (an architect of today might sit next to a contemporary or someone from the eighteenth century) these sets of quotes convey a remarkable depth and diversity of thinking. Alternately wise and amusing, this elegant gem of a book makes the perfect gift for architects, students, and anyone curious about the ideas and personalities that have helped shape our built world.

English language edition.
 
Archidose.com:"A pocketbook of inspiration....Coming across unexpected quotes or ones that hit a nerve makes a flip through the book great. A couple of my favorites includes Jan Kaplicky: 'It's not a sign of creativity to have sixty-five ideas for one problem. It's just a waste of energy.' and Frank Gehry: 'I don't know why people hire architects and then tell them what to do.' These and other quotes make the book a great gift."
 
Extracts from the book:
Frank Gehry (1929–):For me, every day is a new thing. I approach each project with a new insecurity, almost like the first project I ever did, and I get the sweats, I go in and start working, I’m not sure where I’m going — if I knew where I was going, I wouldn’t do it. Hannes Meyer (1889–1954) offers a list of “the only requirements to be considered when building a house”:sex life sleeping habits pets gardening personal hygieneprotection against weather hygiene in the homecar maintenance cooking heatinginsolation service

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959): Is anything more pleasurable to the mind than unsullied paper? The studious comparisons and selections of ‘stock’ in textures and colors of cards and paper? Tom Kundig (1954–):I learn more from creative people in other disciplines than I do even from other architects because I think they have a way of looking at the world that is really important. Thom Mayne (1944 — ): Architecture is a discipline that takes time and patience. If one spends enough years writing complex novels one might be able, someday, to construct a respectable haiku.Glenn Murcutt (1936–):We do not create the work.I believe we, in fact, are discoverers. Jan Kaplicky (1937–2009):It’s not a sign of creativity to have sixty-five ideas for one problem.It’s just a waste of energy.