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.
Helmut JahnRead
I strive for an architecture from which nothing can be taken away.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the pursuit of creating architecture that is complete and inseparable from its essence.
Helmut Jahn's quote reflects a philosophical approach to architecture, advocating for designs that embody wholeness and integrity, suggesting that true architectural beauty lies in structures that do not rely on superficial elements. By striving for this ideal, Jahn implies that architecture should tell a story through its form and function, creating spaces that are essential and cannot have parts removed without losing their fundamental character.
Themes
ArchitectureIntegrityDesignWholenessArtistry
In practice
Example use cases
When discussing architectural philosophy in a lecture.
More from Helmut Jahn
All quotes βThe American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture.
Helmut JahnRead
Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the inessential than with inventing something new.
Helmut JahnRead
Similar quotes
Failure and its accompanying misery is for the artist his most vital source of creative energy.
Montgomery CliftRead
All poets write bad poetry. Bad poets publish them, good poets burn them.
Umberto EcoRead
There is no such thing as a dumb poet or a handless painter. The essence of an artist is that he should be articulate.
Algernon Charles SwinburneRead
The Earth is Art, The Photographer is only a Witness.
Yann Arthus-BertrandRead
I have made a silent compact with myself not to change a line of what I write. I am not interested in perfecting my thoughts, nor my actions.
Henry MillerRead
Clearly the hardest thing for the working artist is to create his own conception and follow it, unafraid of the strictures it imposes, however rigid these may be... I see it as the clearest evidence of genius when an artist follows his conception, his idea, his principle, so unswervingly that he has this truth of his constantly in his control, never letting go of it even for the sake of his own enjoyment of his work.
Andrei TarkovskyRead