Every time I've flown an aircraft, or visited a steelworks, or watched a panel-beater at work, I've learned something new that can be applied to buildings.
Interpretation
Learning from different experiences can enhance one's understanding and skills.
In this quote, Norman Foster emphasizes the value of diverse experiences and observations in the learning process. He suggests that engaging with various fields, such as aviation and industrial work, can provide insights and knowledge that can be beneficially applied to architecture. This reflects the interconnectedness of different disciplines and the importance of open-mindedness in learning.
In practice
In a speech about innovative design, one might include this quote to highlight the importance of interdisciplinary learning.
We now think it hilarious that medieval streets were used as open sewers. Equally, our descendants will say: 'You won't believe this, but people were once allowed to hurl a couple of tons of dangerous metal around smashing into each other.'
As an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.
The most amazing lesson in aerodynamics I ever had was the day I climbed a thermal in a glider at the same time as an eagle. I witnessed, close up, effortlessness and lightness combined with strength, precision and determination.
Everything we design is a response to the specific climate and culture of a particular place.
It takes a lot of effort to make a building look effortless.
Architecture is an expression of values.
Little learning and much pride come of hasty reading.
Consequently, the only thing I learned in school was typing. In the old days, people like me who don't have college degrees had a hard time thriving in society. But today, the ability to learn on your own or from your peers has become really easy. I think this change is leading to a fundamental disruption in education. Independent and lifelong learning are really starting to peak - there is an inflection point coming around how people learn.
Let others pride themselves about how many pages they have written; I'd rather boast about the ones I've read.
It is intolerable that around 1 in 5 of the world's adults are illiterate. How can we build equitable information societies or thriving democracies if so many remain without the basic tools of literacy?
A teacher who establishes rapport with the taught, becomes one with them, learns more from them than he teaches them. He who learns nothing from his disciples is, in my opinion, worthless. Whenever I talk with someone I learn from him. I take from him more than I give him.
Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence, by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills, responsibilities, and rewards of grownups, and opportunities for action in all spheres of life. Adolescence should be a time of useful action, while book learning and scholarship should be a preoccupation of adults.
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