Architecture Interviews

Alessandra Rampazzo and Marcello Galiotto: “Passion is what guides us”

Antoine Predock: “You keep the doorway open”

Arine Aprahamian: “Small changes go a long way”

Ben van Berkel: “I want to stay experimental”

Bjarke Ingels: “What is the standard solution not doing?”

César Pelli: “One aspires for the sky”

Daniel Libeskind: “I never had a goal”

David Chipperfield: “There is no defining moment”

Dimore Studio: “We try and hit all of the senses”

Francine Houben: “What’s most important is the senses”

Francis Kéré: “There’s an element of fantasy”

Ini Archibong: “I have to stay spiritually in tune”

Jeanne Gang: “How could this be transformed?”

John Pawson: “It’s everything you need, but nothing extra”

José Selgas and Lucía Cano: “There should be a why”

Joshua Ramus: “I’m not saying that it’s easy”

Kengo Kuma: “Light gives us a message”

Lina Ghotmeh: “Identity is never fixed”

Ma Yansong: “It’s about the spirit behind it”

Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi: “Storytelling is what we do”

Michael Maltzan: “That changes the dynamic”

Ole Scheeren: “How can we break the mold?”

Studio KO: “As long as it feels honest”

Sumayya Vally: “Architecture is an assertion of who we are”

Tadao Ando: “There is no such thing as creation from nothing”

Thom Mayne: “They want you to be left or right”

Tom Kundig: “Functionality is beauty”

Winy Maas: “Loyalty has its limits”
ACHIEVEMENT
- “If I should be fortunate enough to make another film, it would be exactly what I have settled upon as what is right for me. I feel that these days, I understand a little more what the cinema is.”Francis Ford CoppolaFilm director
- “I think that one should make a house that really fits you like your second soul. It should be your most preferred place on earth!”Axel VervoordtCurator
- “I do not consider architecture as art, nor do I consider architects to be artists. However, I do have a strong desire to improve the purity of my expression and put a strong message into my architecture so that I can call it art!”Tadao AndoArchitect
- “You better make every moment count. Live your life now; start in the morning. You mustn’t sit around waiting to die.”Michael CaineActor
- “I’m doing something that I love, and I consider that to be success. But if you think it’s gonna come fast or easy, then you probably are in for some rough times. You need to always be ready to throw things out and do it over again, and know that you love the process enough to be doing it repeatedly. Always be in love with the process and in love with your talent. And know that you’re going to keep doing it because it’s what you love doing.”Alan MenkenFilm composer
- “You’ve got to actually write it. You’ve got to actually sit there and do it, it can’t just be about the experience. Lots of people have fantastic experiences in life, but don’t have any inclination to put pen to paper.”Irvine WelshAuthor
- “Somehow at the end of the day doing something that actually resonates with people is quite rewarding and keeps me going.”Hans ZimmerFilm composer
- “Over the course of my life, I have sacrificed love, private life, and time for me, all on the altar of work. But I have also created an empire that is important for so many.”Giorgio ArmaniFashion designer
- “The journey is everything! It’s a cliché, but I have really felt it in my own life, in the 25 or 30 years I’ve been in this… The goal is the process, really enjoying the process.”Matt DamonActor
- “From the beginning, I wanted to protect the clothes themselves from fashion, and at the same time protect the woman’s body. I wanted people to keep on wearing my clothes for at least 10 years or more.”Yohji YamamotoFashion designer
- “I think it’s really important to not be afraid of failure and to push yourself to try things and jump in the cold water.”Juergen TellerPhotographer
- “I think the mark of a great song, photo or a painting is something you can remember. It’s kind of that simple. If you work at it, there will be times when the intangible becomes tangible and for a moment… You are a wizard.”Bryan AdamsMusician
- “When I swing and miss with a movie or a play, it’s life or death for me. I feel I don’t have any value, that there is no reason someone would want to be friends with me, that kind of thing… I think that is something that’s not going to change, so I try to use it as motivation.”Aaron SorkinScreenwriter
- “I have a responsibility that lasts a lifetime with my children. They know that I love my work, and they know how I go about it. And I hope that they find work that they love, because nothing can compare to watching your child succeed.”Kevin CostnerActor
- “We’re going after it. We’re going after what we believe and what we deserve and we’re not taking the back seat anymore. I see an improvement in the way that we as women are standing together and paving the way for the next generations. It’s time for that.”Alicia KeysMusician
- “I discovered early on that I’m the kind of person that experiments and makes mistakes but then it’s all worth it because once in a blue moon it hits home.”BjörkMusician
- “After winning an Oscar, there’s an alertness to what you’re thinking or doing or saying. I feel like there’s an aliveness to the experience that wasn’t as attuned previously.”Chiwetel EjioforActor
- “The bottom line in the end is to grab the heart of the audience and talk to them directly and tell them: "I share with you my soul and my heart."”Arturo SandovalMusician
- “I don’t want to continue to do what I did when I was 20. I would like to continue to develop myself .”Anton CorbijnPhotographer
- “I think we've all lived through the pandemic and it has awakened in all of us a concept of time, and how fleeting our time is and can be... I want to apply my energy doing good and creating and hopefully not squandering that. That's what I live for.”Adrien BrodyActor
- “I feel quite free as an artist. I don't feel that I have to prove anything. It’s a liberating feeling. I can go in any directions, I can explore and embrace whatever I want.”Rolando VillazónOpera singer
- “I think the best you can do for yourself is let your subconscious drive you, instead of doing things because you want to achieve some sort of glory.”Luca GuadagninoFilm director
- “I think for me in my life, the most useful thing that I aspire to be is just being as self-aware and as honest with myself as possible. I think if you’re doing that then probably everything else will follow.”Daniel RadcliffeActor
- “I’m 80 years old now, and little by little over your lifetime you begin to understand things that you didn’t understand earlier.”Francis Ford CoppolaFilm director
- “I thought for a long time as the business grew, “Is this something I want to do for the rest of my life?” And I knew it was not. When I left Calvin Klein, I had done almost everything I wanted to do in terms of creation of products. And re-doing was less fun.”Calvin KleinFashion designer
- “I think it comes from my desire as a kid to do something artistic that would amaze people, you know? I wanted to do nothing less than that. Those are the projects that I love: figuring out what might just be possible but hasn't been done yet.”James CameronFilm director
- “We’re going after it. We’re going after what we believe and what we deserve and we’re not taking the back seat anymore. I see an improvement in the way that we as women are standing together and paving the way for the next generations. It’s time for that.”Alicia KeysMusician
- “I try to look at things more from the perspective that everything is happening for us, not to us. And so whatever challenges that were occurring at the time, perhaps they were happening just so this moment could happen.”Demi MooreActor
- “I don’t pander to anybody. I don’t care who it is. I just do the picture I do.”David BaileyPhotographer
- “I’m surviving. I do everything I can to speak out and make sure that I keep my humanity.”Ai WeiweiArtist
- “As a photographer, as long as I remain truthful with myself in the transaction, as long as I maintain a level of empathy for my humanity in that process, then what is being translated back is honest and the transaction is not objectified.”Norman Jean RoyPhotographer
- “If I want to make a movie and I can at 62, I will. But I want to leave the ring triumphant. I want this guy, this guy you see right now, I want him to be the guy who makes the movies, not the autumn dude.”Quentin TarantinoFilm director
- “I would like to think that someday I will be content enough with myself and feel good enough about myself to think I don’t need to do all that sort of shit and I’ll just go and watch tomatoes grow or something.”Nick CaveMusician
- “I think the final circle in being an artist is connecting, making some conversation to the world you’re in. I think if you have that feeling of why you need to do something, you’ll find a way. And I think that really takes you forward!”Elizabeth PeytonArtist
- “I am Valentino. I live in my own world. I love to create clothes, I love beautiful things. If they want to call me an icon, okay, then I am an icon.”ValentinoFashion designer
- “I consider myself a storyteller. I feel that is what good directors do, they are really just following criteria: is this a good story? Is this the story I want to tell? All we’re trying to do is the hard task of making interesting, thought-provoking films.”Spike LeeFilm director
- “You can’t measure something like who is the best chef in the world. Whether I’m the best or not, no one can really say. However, my restaurant elBulli was certainly the most influential restaurant in the world.”Ferran AdriàChef
- “I believe anyway that the prime-time for every work of art exists in the time in which it was done. After that it’s transformation, continuous transformation.”ChristoArtist
- “I started a very nice career, became quite successful, and at age 40 I won this prize. But when I got that prize, I realized that I hadn’t yet found my own language of cooking. So I got on my knees and gathered all the tools from my childhood and started working very hard on that. And that’s how it started.”Francis MallmannChef
- “You can catch ideas at a deeper level when you start meditating. Intuition grows, and intuition is the number one tool for an artist – feeling and thinking combined. The ideas are flowing, and the feeling that you can get it to feel correct. You know what that is. It’s a knowingness that grows. It’s really beautiful.”David LynchFilm director
Celebrating Architecture
- Arine Aprahamianread interview
- Alessandra Rampazzo and Marcello Galiottoread interview
- Kengo Kumaread interview
- Michael Maltzanread interview
- Tom Kundigread interview
- Jeanne Gangread interview
- Lina Ghotmehread interview
- John Pawsonread interview
- Ini Archibongread interview
- Dimore Studioread interview
- Sumayya Vallyread interview
- Tadao Andoread interview
- Francine Houbenread interview
- Studio KOread interview
- Bjarke Ingelsread interview
- José Selgas and Lucía Canoread interview
- Francis Kéréread interview
- Marion Weiss and Michael Manfrediread interview
- Ole Scheerenread interview
- Joshua Ramusread interview
- Antoine Predockread interview
- Thom Mayneread interview
- César Pelliread interview
- Ma Yansongread interview
- Ben van Berkelread interview
- Winy Maasread interview
- Daniel Libeskindread interview
- David Chipperfieldread interview