Form follows profit is the aesthetic principle of our times.
Richard RogersRead
My passion and great enjoyment for architecture, and the reason the older I get the more I enjoy it, is because I believe we - architects - can effect the quality of life of the people.
Interpretation
This quote expresses the deep connection between architecture and the improvement of people's lives through design.
Richard Rogers highlights the vital role architects play in enhancing the quality of life through thoughtful design. As he grows older, his appreciation for architecture deepens, reflecting a belief that their work significantly impacts the well-being of individuals and communities.
In practice
During a presentation on sustainable design, one might use this quote to illustrate the impact of architecture on community wellness.
Form follows profit is the aesthetic principle of our times.
I love cities, I spend most of my life talking about cities. And the design of cities does have an effect on your life. You're lucky if you can see trees out of your window and you have a square nearby, or a bar, a cornershop, a surgery. Then you're living well.
A greater focus on design in all new homes would make the best use of land, create homes and public spaces, and reinforce the structures of urban life.
The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.
When I started out, nearly every architect I knew was working in public practice; that's where the radical thinking was done. But, there's always a danger of looking back as our fathers did and saying, 'Things were better then.'
Architecture is about public space held by buildings.
It is insufficient for architecture today to directly implement an existing building typology; it instead requires architects to carefully examine the whole area with new interventions and programmatic typologies
We used to build temples, and museums are about as close as secular society dares to go in facing up to the idea that a good building can change your life (and a bad one ruin it).
Architects mostly work for privileged people, people who have money and power. Power and money are invisible, so people hire us to visualize their power and money by making monumental architecture. I love to make monuments, too, but I thought perhaps we can use our experience and knowledge more for the general public, even for those who have lost their houses in natural disasters.
Modern buildings of our time are so huge that one must group them. Often the space between these buildings is as important as the buildings themselves.
Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it’s not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I don’t want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots.
The space within becomes the reality of the building.
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