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.
Artists are the antennae of the race, but the bullet-headed many will never learn to trust the great artists.
To say that "the camera cannot lie" is merely to underline the multiple deceits that are now practised in its name.
To see the Summer Sky Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie— True Poems flee—
Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.
I try to read a lot and listen to a lot of good songwriters, and I try to actually work on the craft of writing a song rather than just leaving it up to inspiration.
Music is, for me, like a beautiful mosaic which God has put together. He takes all the pieces in his hand, throws them into the world, and we have to recreate the picture from the pieces.
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