Architecture begins to matter when it brings delight and sadness and perplexity and awe along with a roof over our heads.
Interpretation
Architecture transcends mere shelter when it evokes deep emotions and thoughts.
This quote by Paul Goldberger emphasizes that architecture is not just about providing a physical space for living; it is an art form that should connect with people on an emotional level. The true significance of architecture lies in its ability to inspire feelings of delight, sadness, confusion, or awe, making it an integral part of the human experience rather than just a functional necessity.
In practice
During a speech on the importance of urban design, one could reference this quote to highlight the emotional impact of architectural spaces.
New York remains what it has always been : a city of ebb and flow, a city of constant shifts of population and economics, a city of virtually no rest. It is harsh, dirty, and dangerous, it is whimsical and fanciful, it is beautiful and soaring - it is not one or another of these things but all of them, all at once, and to fail to accept this paradox is to deny the reality of city existence.
It is only when light is reduced that the pupil opens and feeling goes out of the eyes like touch.
An artisan without memories, whose only dream was to die of fatigue in the oblivion and misery of his little gold fishes.
The director’s task is to recreate life, its movement, its contradictions, its dynamic and conflicts. It is his duty to reveal every iota of the truth he has seen, even if not everyone finds that truth acceptable. Of course an artist can lose his way, but even his mistakes are interesting provided they are sincere. For they represent the reality of his inner life, of the peregrinations and struggle into which the external world has thrown him.
In a way, Anglo-Saxon poetry cannot be translated.
All too often, when creative people pick out someone else's creative work as an inspiration, what they end up with is very, very far from the original.
I know now that most people are so closely concerned with themselves that they are not aware of their own individuality, I can see myself, and it has helped me to say what I want to say in paint.
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