27 Quotes by Helmut Jahn
- Higher ceilings allow the use indirect lighting, which is much healthier and reduces glare.
- In Europe, they're more demanding, the ones that rent the build ings.
- In Europe, architects consider themselves artists. They think they're special when they win a competition.
- I've never looked at a suburban building as being a minor building and an urban building as being a major building.
- I wanted to improve the suburban office building; to create a great urban space in a suburban environment with all that implies about interaction, collaboration and creativity.
- Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the inessential than with inventing something new.
- I strive for an architecture from which nothing can be taken away.
- It's my goal to make a building as immaterial as possible. Architecture is a very material thing. It takes a lot of resources, so why not eliminate what you don't need as long as you're able to achieve the same result?
- Critics are entitled to have an opinion, but how can they judge how comfortable a building is? No critic is smart enough to judge how a building will perform over time.
- Chinese buildings are like American buildings, with big footprints. People don't care about daylight or fresh air.
- America has always imported history.
- A good engineer thinks in reverse and asks himself about the stylistic consequences of the components and systems he proposes.
- A city building, you experience when you walk; a suburban building, you experience when you drive.
- A building is hard to judge. It takes many years to find out whether it works. It's not as simple as asking the people in the office whether they like it.
- Every building is a prototype. No two are alike.
- German and English firms operate internationally, while French firms do not. The only place where they all have work is in China. Anybody can sell himself in China!
- You don't know what the Chinese expect in the way of beauty. The presentation is just a farce. You come into a room filled with 50 people and they don't talk to you. There's very little interaction.
- The American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture.
- Most architects say: I want to use this type of glass, even if it's too reflective or doesn't let enough light in. However, the use of a certain type of glass might change the comfort level.
- The architecture profession has lost a lot of its integrity, especially in the USA. The general architect here has no scruples, no ambitions.
- You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you take a cab just to go around the corner.
- When I think of some of my earlier work, it really seems a fortunate coincidence that I succeeded.
- When I came to America in the '60s, it was the place to be. I wonder if I'd come here today.
- We are creating a unique experience. It's starts with how you see the building from a distance.
- We want our buildings to work like a machine that will create a pleasurable environment.
- Transparency is not the same as looking straight through a building: it's not just a physical idea, it's also an intellectual one.
- We prefer synthetic rather than natural materials. Natural products are almost too valuable. Wood is much harder to produce than metal. And metal is recyclable, while wood isn't.
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