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A house I
designed for a friend in Cambridge in the early forties was denied a mortgage because it
looked modern. |
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I believe
in the continuity of this tradition for it is by no means a relic of the past but a living
force that animates and informs the present. |
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To become
art it must be built on a foundation of necessity. Freedom of expression, for me, consists
in moving within a measured range that I assign to each of my undertakings. How
instructive it is to remember Leonardo da Vinci’s counsel that "strength is born
of constraint and dies in freedom. |
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Architects
by design investigate the play of volumes in light, explore the mysteries of movement in
space, examine the measure that is scale and proportion, and above all, they search for
that special quality that is the spirit of the place as no building exists alone. |
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The
practice of architecture is a collective enterprise, with many individuals of various
disciplines and talents working closely together. And from the commissioning to the
completion of a project, there are also the many individuals for whom architects work,
whose contribution to quality is frequently as crucial as that of the architect. |
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"the greatest challenge
and the greatest accomplishment of my career." - Pei on the completion of glass
pyramid. |
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Pei’s belief helped him
withstand the worst trial of his career. He says : "One has to persist, and not give
up principles. But there are many ways of persisting, many ways of trying to convince a
client to do certain things. There’s a polite way, there’s an impolite
way…but that doesn’t mean I’m less insistent, less demanding…not at
all. I’m probably as demanding as any creative person. But you have to identify the
important things, and then press for them not give up." |
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Architectural tradition, is
a living force that animates the present. |
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Great luck… being in
the right place at the right time. |
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The pyramid is the geometric
shape that encloses the greatest area within the smallest possible volume. |
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If you are true to yourself,
your work will have a signature. And that signature will come out. |
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About the Kennedy library
– "With art you can never predict. You do your good work and hope for the best.
This project was a failure. It just couldn’t be" he sighed. "But it made me
famous." |
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In art you have to do that
– when you agree with your critics and naysayers, they have no way to come back at
you. |
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There are endless mysteries
within discipline; Infinite possibilities exist within a set of rules. It is not an
individual act, architecture. You have to consider your client. Only out of that can you
produce great architecture. You can’t work in the abstract. |
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Art is not isolated. It is
part of the painting, the sculpture, the ballet of its time. |
