“The ultimate goal of the architect... is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture... should be a fruit of our endeavour to build an earthly paradise for people.”— Alvar Aalto
“God created paper for the purpose of drawing architecture on it. Everything else is, at least for me, an abuse of paper.”— Alvar Aalto
“Architecture is not a science. It is a great historical procession. It is an art, a game of forms and volumes.”— Alvar Aalto
“Building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but a splintered world.”— Alvar Aalto
“Nothing is as dangerous in architecture as dealing with separated problems. If we split life into separated problems we split the possibilities to make good building art.”— Alvar Aalto
“It is the business of the architect to be a good citizen, and to see to it that his work contributes to the beauty and order of the community.”— Cass Gilbert
“The function of a building is to look good and keep the rain out. After that, everything else is gravy.”— Stewart Brand
“My mission is to create a structure that is sensitive to the culture and climate of its place.”— Norman Foster
“Among these temples there is one which is the chief of them all, whose grandeur of architectural details no human tongue is able to describe.”— Hernán Cortés
“Architecture is a political act, by nature. It has to do with the relationships between people and how they decide to change their popular life.”— Arthur Erickson
“The function of a building is not just to be a shell, but to be an instrument for living.”— Ralph Erskine