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.
The criteria for architecture after the tsunami is humbleness
Modernist buildings exclude dialogue, and the void that they create around themselves is not a public space but a desertification
What is now called 'green architecture' is an opportunistic caricature of a much deeper consideration of the issues related to sustainability that architecture has been engaged with for many years. It was one of the first professions that was deeply concerned with these issues and that had an intellectual response to them.
Why should we build very large spaces when they are not necessary? We can design halls spanning several kilometres and covering a whole city, but we have to ask, what does it really make? What does society really need?
All buildings, large or small, public or private, have a public face, a facade; they therefore, without exception, have a positive or negative effect on the quality of the public realm, enriching or impoverishing it in a lasting and radical manner. The architecture of the city and public space is a matter of common concern to the same degree as laws and language—they are the foundation of civility and civilisation.
The architect must get to know the people who will live in the planned house. From their needs, the rest inevitably follows.
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