Rem Koolhaas Quotes

I think there is a new awareness in this 21st century that design is as important to where and how we live as it is for museums, concert halls and civic buildings.

The design of a city is like a strange archeology.

London is one of the most civilised places in the world for the procedure of making architecture and urban design.

What's similar between Britain and America is the lack of good-quality civic buildings.

I don't know if it's genetic or just because I was surrounded by it, but I was always fascinated with building and construction and development.

My goal is always to create something exceptional that enhances cities and enriches the lives of the people who live and work in them.

Our roots are clinging, we shouldn't knock down so many old 'buildings.'

In Paris, there has to be a presence. History becomes the most interesting when it's compared to the present. I mean there's a whole group of people that want to build new buildings that look like old buildings.

I think architecture has to be a gift.

High among the unpredictable variables that endanger the survival of worthy buildings are the vagaries of taste.

Charles was very intent to use his years as Prince of Wales to make his mark while he still had freedom of maneuver that he wouldn't have as King. The first subject he really went for was architecture. It made an impact.

You can just drift unhappily towards this vision of heaven on earth, and ultimately that is what architecture is a vision of: Heaven on earth, at it's best.

The future of architecture is culture.

The problem of the tall office building is one of the most stupendous, one of the most magnificent opportunities that the Lord of Nature in His beneficence has ever offered to the proud spirit of man.

There's something very special about seeing history so clearly in front of you through that architecture that you just don't get in the U.S. If I was asked to choose where I'd most like to live, I would always choose London.

I would like to use architecture to create bonds between people who live in cities, and even use it to recover the communities that used to exist in every single city.

The most basic task of any museum must be the protection of works of cultural significance entrusted to its care for the edification and pleasure of future generations.

Architecture is measured against the past; you build in the future, and you try to imagine the future.

I have a strong impulse to protect history and time and the lineage of events.

I think what's great about your community is that it's different than anyone else's. Look around. What do you want to change? What needs to be built, or what's valuable and needs to be maintained? Is it the people? Local animals? Your parks or gardens? Hospitals?

A greater focus on design in all new homes would make the best use of land, create homes and public spaces, and reinforce the structures of urban life.

Urban design as a discipline barely exists in most American and Canadian cities. In Singapore, there are innovative transportation strategies at work.

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.

I would say that to put architecture in the chain of history, to be able to interpret and understand why we are where we are, is quite crucial.

As architects we are often involved in the concrete-steel-and-glass aspect of it, but cities are social structures, and to be involved in imagining the future of cities and the type of relationships and the types of places that we're making is something that intrigues me very much.