Though I love the arts with all my heart - paintings, sculpture, theatre, and music - and think they are among the biggest achievements we humans can do, I am really convinced that architecture is among the most important.
Interpretation
Architecture is a vital art form that significantly impacts human life.
In this quote, Santiago Calatrava expresses his deep appreciation for the arts, noting their importance in human achievement. However, he uniquely elevates architecture above other art forms, suggesting that it plays a critical role not only in aesthetic experience but also in shaping the environment and everyday life, emphasizing its foundational significance in society.
In practice
During a speech about urban development, this quote can highlight the essential role architecture plays in our cities.
Building a bridge, in my opinion, is a symbolic gesture, linked with the needs of people who cross over it, and with the idea of overcoming or surmounting obstacles. A modern bridge can also be a work of art. It helps to shape our daily lives and becomes a vital experience for all the people who use it.
There is one way that architecture is superior to sculpture, and that is scale. You can walk into a building and have it all around you.
I paint and work as a sculptor, and I see architecture as an art... If you follow this approach you can use techniques to the service of man and to the service of an artistic idea, and beauty.
The architect works for so many years building it, and the moment you deliver it to the people is the moment when you are unnecessary.
When I work on sculpture, I don't have to worry about function. When I work on a piece of architecture, I must think about function all the time.
Architecture is one of the art forms best able to improve and revitalise cities both artistically and functionally.
I am a painter with letters. I want to restore everything, mix everything up and say everything.
Everyone is not able, or inclined, to write poetry in the narrower sense any more than everyone is qualified to take part in a walking race. But just as all of us can and do walk, so all of us can and do use language poetically.
In a poem the excitement has to maintain itself. I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric is governed by gravity.
I like fashion to go down to the street, but I can't accept that it should originate there.
Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music.
But it's writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you to close the book and do something else. Wash the car, maybe.
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