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.
Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they are, we are measuring them only by the standard of whether they will be future deficits or assets for our nation's competitive needs.
My father believed young people are among our nation's most valuable resources, and so we should ensure that every child - including children and youth returning from the justice system - have access to the opportunities we would want for our own children.
I just love learning. I think learning is how you live. The verb of my life is learning.
Do not address your readers as though they were gathered together in a stadium. When people read your copy, they are alone. Pretend you are writing to each of them a letter on behalf of your client.
There are no books in this world that everybody must read, but only books that a person must read at a certain time in a given place under given circumstances and at a given period of his life.
My family was well off but not rich. I spent the four years I was an undergraduate working on the beach. And it wasn't because I was lazy; it was because my freshman class would go to a hundred different employers and wouldn't get a nibble. That was a disequilibrium system. I realized that the ordinary old-fashioned Euclidean geometry didn't apply.
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