Santiago Calatrava Quotes

I have tried to get close to the frontier between architecture and sculpture and to understand architecture as an art.

There was a wish to get something exceptional, ... I also wanted to deliver something technically unique.

The most touching thing that anyone can say to me is that I have done something beautiful for the community.

I am always searching for more light and space.

You start a project as a young person and then at the end you are another person. You are ready to go for your pension.

The architect is not only the director, but he is the composer. And, as a composer, the architect brings a sense of creativity to each building.

It's very atmospheric. It's not a building that is a severe statement in the skyline. We need the height; otherwise, the building almost disappears because it is so slender.

For me, architecture is an art the same as painting is an art or sculpture is an art. Yet, architecture moves a step beyond painting and sculpture because it is more than using materials. Architecture responds to functional outputs and environmental factors. Yet, fundamentally, it is important for me to stress the art in architecture to bring harmony.

As a building is resistant to forces acting upon it, a person must be equally tenacious in life.

The architect needs to learn to see, and to open his eyes because there is always a lesson to learn from the streets.

The way is not always easy, but in order to bring a work through to completion, you will need a strong character, a broad foundation of knowledge and an enormous force of persuasion.

Technology is an important element in progress. See, we can always do something better. We can improve water technology, or energy efficiency. There is always progress forward using technology and that's where innovation starts.

The architect is very interesting because the architect is the commander, meaning the one who commands all the workers. The architect is also the music director and composer. He cannot play each instrument, but he needs to understand and embody the sense of each part.

Vitruvius, the great writer, architect and engineer, identified in his famous treatise on Architecture that the three values essential to any work of Architecture were: firmitas, utilitas, and venustas; or firmness, utility, and delight. Firmness meaning well built, solid and resistant; utility meaning useful and functional, and delight meaning beautiful.

Technology is a vocabulary and a language in which you can say many things.

Technology is constantly changing and brings you automatically into the present. In that way, it automatically makes you build for this time.

I love the construction process and it is always important because we try to experiment and do something new, so the builders are not copying any technique from other projects. Everything is innovative and so I need to be there and be attentive to make sure everything is running smoothly.

These three qualities I recommend to you; tenacity, goodness, and intelligence. They are as valuable today as they were in the time of the ancient Greeks, Romans and during the renaissance. They will help make you good professionals.

Later works are better because it takes a lot of time in architecture to mature. And, it takes a lot of discipline to experience everything that is changing around you.

I think it is important to be present in the places where you are working. It is not only about doing a project, but following the project through its construction.

The concept of an "architect" is one of the oldest professions in the world. Whereas, some professions, such as a "lawyer", have their roots in Latin, "Archi - tecton" is actually a Greek word, and much older. Just knowing how old the profession is gives me hope that we will still exist for years to come, even if we are changing.

What each school offers is something unique. But, there are two types of activity an architect must be educated on. First, the architect needs concentrated activities to learn the guidelines, and that is what school is for. But, second, is the public aspect of education. The architect needs to see architecture in the streets to learn.

The architect holds much knowledge, but is not a specialist. Especially with the computer and technology, the amount of knowledge an architect possesses keeps on growing.

Actually, if you look at the works of the great architects of our time, you can see that their most beautiful works are always their later works - Kahn, Corbusier, even Gehry.