Though I love the arts with all my heart - paintings, sculpture, theatre, and music - and think they are among the biggest achievements we humans can do, I am really convinced that architecture is among the most important.
Interpretation
Architecture is a vital art form that significantly impacts human life.
In this quote, Santiago Calatrava expresses his deep appreciation for the arts, noting their importance in human achievement. However, he uniquely elevates architecture above other art forms, suggesting that it plays a critical role not only in aesthetic experience but also in shaping the environment and everyday life, emphasizing its foundational significance in society.
In practice
During a speech about urban development, this quote can highlight the essential role architecture plays in our cities.
Building a bridge, in my opinion, is a symbolic gesture, linked with the needs of people who cross over it, and with the idea of overcoming or surmounting obstacles. A modern bridge can also be a work of art. It helps to shape our daily lives and becomes a vital experience for all the people who use it.
There is one way that architecture is superior to sculpture, and that is scale. You can walk into a building and have it all around you.
I paint and work as a sculptor, and I see architecture as an art... If you follow this approach you can use techniques to the service of man and to the service of an artistic idea, and beauty.
The architect works for so many years building it, and the moment you deliver it to the people is the moment when you are unnecessary.
When I work on sculpture, I don't have to worry about function. When I work on a piece of architecture, I must think about function all the time.
Architecture is one of the art forms best able to improve and revitalise cities both artistically and functionally.
The whole world of publishing is moving to electronic, but when you put a poem on a screen and you increase the type size, the shape of a poem changes.
It doesn't matter if you use a box camera or you use a Leica; the important thing is what motivates you when you are photographing.
Simple music is the hardest music to play and blues is simple music.
One day a whole damn song fell into place in my head.
I tell myself that I created the wardrobe of the contemporary woman, that I participated in the transformation of my times.
It is almost impossible to reconcile self expression with the creative act.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.