I like to be buttoned onto tradition. The thing is to improve it, twist it and mold it; to make something new of it; not to deny it. The riches of history can be plucked at any point.
Philip JohnsonRead
Concrete you can mold, you can press it into - after all, you haven't any straight lines in your body. Why should we have straight lines in our architecture? You'd be surprised when you go into a room that has no straight line - how marvelous it is that you can feel the walls talking back to you, as it were.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the beauty of non-linear forms in architecture, reflecting the natural curves of the human body.
Philip Johnson's quote emphasizes the idea that architectural design should resonate with the natural, curvilinear forms found in the human body rather than adhering strictly to straight lines. By embracing curves and organic shapes, architecture can create a more harmonious and engaging environment that evokes emotion and connection, allowing spaces to 'speak' to their inhabitants.
Themes
ArchitectureCurvesDesignNatureEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a talk about modern architectural designs, you could quote Johnson to illustrate the importance of organic shapes.
More from Philip Johnson
All quotes →I like the thought that what we are to do on this earth is embellish it for its greater beauty, so that oncoming generations can look back to the shapes we leave here and get the same thrill that I get in looking back at theirs - at the Parthenon, at Chartres Cathedral.
Philip JohnsonRead
The future of architecture is culture.
Philip JohnsonRead
Architecture is art, nothing else.
Philip JohnsonRead
Similar quotes
I don't write for children. I write and someone says it's for children.
Maurice SendakRead
Look, Salvador Dali did not paint because he needed the money. No conversation about materialism and music makes sense. You make music and that's that, it doesn't matter why.
Robert PlantRead
Reinforced concrete buildings are by nature skeletal buildings. No noodles nor armoured turrets. A construction of girders that carry the weight, and walls that carry no weight. That is to say, buildings consisting of skin and bones.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead
Noncooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet.
Julia ChildRead
A good artist should be isolated. If he isn't isolated, something is wrong.
Orson WellesRead
Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style.
Massimo VignelliRead