Architecture Quotes to Remember
The architecture quotes I remember always start with the classic, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” And to be honest with you, I’m not sure who came up with that quote. There are ideas about whether an architect or a journalist came up with it. It isn’t understood who came up with that hallmark of architecture quotes. But what I can tell you is that in architecture, we have used this phrase for many years.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
It is difficult to communicate a design to a client. It’s also difficult to describe it well enough for them to have a good understanding of the design and then to accept it. We cannot depend on a sales technique that uses words and gestures to sell the idea. So we need more than pictures, graphics, or visuals to communicate the design. We also need to show the visuals that are going to give eye candy to clients. The visual design needs to make them emotional in accepting what that facility is going to look like. This is one of the great architecture quotes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” And as architects, we need to embrace it, keep it, and execute it on a daily basis.
Architecture Quotes: Form Follows Function
Another one of the architecture quotes that I like as an architect is one by Louis Sullivan that states, “form follows function.”
A lot of people that are not architects may think that an architect draws pretty pictures. But it is not that. An architect is a combination between an engineer and an artist. That is what an architect is – when the two come together. A lot of people don’t know where that art comes from.
“Form follows function” is what happens after you determine the function of a facility. You can then design it with proper rhythm, materials, and colors. Then you’re going to have forms that come out and speak in an artistic way. That is what is summed up by architecture quotes such as this one. Louis Sullivan said it well. “Form follows function.” If you want to be an architect, never forget that phrase “form follows function.”
Design for the Present with an Awareness of the Past
Another of the architecture quotes I like is from one of our contemporary architects, Norman Foster. He is a successful architect today. He stated, “as an architect, you design for the present with an awareness of the past.”
We cannot design today without those lessons from the past. That’s what he’s saying. We cannot forget our history of architecture. It is important to learn the history in architecture so that we do not make the same mistakes in the future. If we disregard historic architecture, the future in architecture cannot exist. We may as well not be architects. The way Norman Foster puts it in this excellent example of architecture quotes, it is critical to have an awareness of the past. It is important to embrace it, understand it, and respect it to design good facilities in the future.
Natural Daylight is Key
An example of one of the architecture quotes that I love is one by Louis Kahn, another great architect. He stated, “a room is not a room without natural daylight.”
Natural daylighting is important in the everyday activities of a human being. To be in a room without natural daylight, the temperature, the heat that the sun creates is missing from life. How can we take out light from a building? It would be unfair!
So it’s important to be able to include in the design as much natural daylighting as possible. Natural daylight is not only good for human beings, it’s also good for plants. Also, it’s good for pets. It allows you to appreciate your surroundings in natural daylight. It is different than it would be if you had artificial light.
That is my favorite of the architecture quotes. So, I’ll close with it. Every architect should remember, “a room is not a room without natural daylight.”
