I think of novels in architectural terms. You have to enter at the gate and this gate must be constructed in such a way that the reader has immediate confidence in the strength of the building.

I was a very interested arts student I was always into that part of school and when I got into high school I went into architectural drafting. It gave me an understanding of how to build things and it's really helped me put things in perspective. With my music and my movies to me it's all art.

I hope that America as a whole and especially its architects will become more seriously involved in producing a new architectural culture that would bring the nation to the apex - where it has stood before - and lead the world.

I used to love to draw. I didn't want to go to art class because I felt that would be too corny when I was young but architectural drafting was the cool thing to do because there was more precision. It taught me a lot about building and structures and doorways and frames and windowsills.

All those involved in the construction of an architectural design from the architect to the builder have an attachment to the architecture although it's difficult to quantify the attachment.

I see the Beijing National Stadium as an architectural project. I accepted Herzog and De Meuron's invitation to collaborate on the design and our proposal won the competition. From beginning to end I stayed with the project. I am committed to fostering relationships between a city and its architecture.

Any architectural project we do takes at least four or five years so increasingly there is a discrepancy between the acceleration of culture and the continuing slowness of architecture.

Even though I build buildings and I pursue my architecture I pursue it as an artist. I deliberately keep a tiny studio. I don't want to be an architectural firm. I want to remain an artist.

I am but an architectural composer.

For many years I have lived uncomfortably with the belief that most planning and architectural design suffers for lack of real and basic purpose. The ultimate purpose it seems to me must be the improvement of mankind.