‘Based on Wonder’: 13 Quotes About Architecture
Architecture, in its most rudimentary sense, arose to fulfill the basic human needs of shelter and protection. Our Stone Age ancestors — the first architects — built simple structures, piling one rock upon another. Later, during antiquity, came monumental architecture: towering pyramids, ziggurats, stupas, shrines, and temples. Distinct styles developed from one period to the next. Byzantine, Gothic, Baroque, and Rococo forms gave way to modern architectural expressions such as Art Deco, Brutalism, and Minimalism.
Over the centuries, architecture became much more than simple shelter and protection. It became an art form, one widely celebrated by artists and philosophers. “Ah, to build, to build!” wrote poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “That is the noblest art of all the arts.” Poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, meanwhile, famously called architecture “frozen music.”
Unlike Longfellow and Goethe, however, most architects never become household names, even if their structures have helped define the very nature of the streets, towns, and cities we live in. Here, then, are some quotes from architects past and present, from Christopher Wren to Zaha Hadid, about the unique importance of this overlooked art form.
Christopher Wren’s many notable buildings in London include St Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Hospital Chelsea, and the Old Royal Naval College.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is a pioneer of modernist architecture whose buildings include Farnsworth House (Illinois), Crown Hall (Chicago), and the Barcelona Pavilion (Barcelona).
Louis Sullivan is a modernist architect whose buildings include the Wainwright Building (Missouri) and the Bayard-Condict Building (New York).
Paul R. Williams designed the homes of numerous celebrities, primarily in Southern California, including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, and Barbara Stanwyck.
Eileen Gray designed and built the famed modernist villa E-1027 in France.
Julia Morgan designed more than 700 buildings in California, most famously Hearst Castle in San Simeon.
Norma Sklarek is most famous for designing the United States Embassy in Tokyo and the Terminal One station at Los Angeles International Airport.
Norman Foster is the designer of London City Hall, 30 St Mary Axe (the “Gherkin”), Wembley Stadium, the HSBC Main Building in Hong Kong, and many more.
Daniel Libeskind is best known for designing the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the master plan for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site.
Yoshio Taniguchi is best known for his redesign of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Denise Scott Brown and her husband and partner Robert Venturi designed various buildings for Yale University and Princeton University, and museums such as the Seattle Art Museum and the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London.
Renzo Piano’s buildings include the Centre Pompidou (Paris), The Shard (London), and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York).
Zaha Hadid’s major works include the London Aquatics Centre, the Broad Art Museum (Michigan), the MAXXI Museum (Rome), and the Guangzhou Opera House (China).
