Look, architecture has a lot of places to hide behind, a lot of excuses. "The client made me do this." "The city made me do this." "Oh, the budget." I don't believe that anymore.
Frank GehryRead
Your best work is your expression of yourself. Now, you may not be the greatest at it, but when you do it, you're the only expert.
Interpretation
Everyone has a unique perspective to share through their work, regardless of skill level.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-expression in one's work. Frank Gehry suggests that while one may not be the most skilled, the act of creating something that reflects your own thoughts and experiences makes you an authority on that piece, as it is a direct reflection of who you are. It highlights the value of authenticity and individual perspective in artistic endeavors.
In practice
In an art class, when discussing personal projects.
Look, architecture has a lot of places to hide behind, a lot of excuses. "The client made me do this." "The city made me do this." "Oh, the budget." I don't believe that anymore.
Your best work is your expression of yourself.
My only extravagance in life is my sailboat. I'm bonkers about that, but other than that, I don't spend money on myself.
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.
Liquid architecture. It's like jazz - you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something. And I think it's a way of - for me, it's a way of trying to understand the city, and what might happen in the city.
An architect is given a program, budget, place, and schedule. Sometimes the end product rises to art - or at least people call it that.
I think there is a new awareness in this 21st century that design is as important to where and how we live as it is for museums, concert halls and civic buildings.
Anyway I feel myself a bit on the edge on the art world, but I don't mind, I'm just pursuing my work in a very excited way. And there isn't really a mainstream anymore, is there?
People hide behind the word aesthetic. They say, ‘Well, it’s just that designer’s aesthetic.’ But when you see 18 seasons in a row and not one single model outside a certain skin color…? There are people in the industry who are advocates, who support diversity. And there are people who do not. I don’t get it. Beauty is universal. These doors have to open.
Have you ever wondered why young people take to music like fish to water? Maybe it's because music is fun. Plan and simple. It opens up their minds to dream great dreams about where they can go and what they can do when they get older.
Whenever I sit with a bowl of soup before me, listening to the murmur that penetrates like the distant song of an insect, lost in contemplation of the flavours to come, I feel as if I were being drawn into a trance.
I have never felt inhibited in trying to write as well as the greatest English poets.
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