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
My only extravagance in life is my sailboat. I'm bonkers about that, but other than that, I don't spend money on myself.
Interpretation
The quote reflects Frank Gehry's minimalism in spending, highlighting his passion for sailing as his only indulgence.
Frank Gehry, a renowned architect, expresses his belief in simplicity and moderation in personal expenses. He reveals that while he has a deep passion for his sailboat, he refrains from indulging in other luxuries, suggesting that true fulfillment can come from a singular passion rather than material wealth. This quote invites reflection on the nature of extravagance and the value of prioritizing one's true interests over widespread consumption.
In practice
During a presentation about minimalism in lifestyle choices.
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.
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 don't know why people hire architects and then tell them what to do.
I was born inside the movie of my life. The visuals were before me, the audio surrounded me, the plot unfolded inevitably but not necessarily. I don't remember how I got into the movie, but it continues to entertain me.
As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.
A terrible depression yesterday. Visions of my life petering out into a kind of soft-brained stupor from lack of use.
I am grown by sympathy a little eager and sentimental, but leave me alone, and I should relish every hour and what it brought me, the pot-luck of the day, as heartily as the oldest gossip in the bar-room.
I suppose I have a really loose interpretation of 'work,' because I think that just being alive is so much work at something you don't always want to do. The machinery is always going. Even when you sleep.
This is the great challenge: to maintain passion for the everyday routine and the endlessly repeated act, to derive deep gratification from the mundane.
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