Minoru Yamasaki Quotes

Let's talk about the Gas Company because this is my favorite job.

I want to do very useful buildings and I would like to find a method of producing these buildings through our technology because I think that this is the only way that we will gain wonderful environment easily in the future.

Japanese architecture is very much copied in this country and in Europe.

I feel this is very important for us to have serene buildings because our civilization is chaotic as it is, you see; our whole machine age has brought about a chaos that has to be somehow counterbalanced, I think.

And I think that the environment is one very strong way to counterbalance the chaotic nature of our life.

We build buildings which are terribly restless. And buildings don't go anywhere. They shouldn't be restless.

And a building must be like a human being. It must have a wholeness about it, something that is very important.

And I feel that we in our society should not be held by any such myth; that we should do everything we can to gain a delight and joy in our society with all the available parts of the palette.

The view outside was much more important than the exhibits.

And sometimes I'm criticized. But I think that if those who criticize us will look at the reason why the shape is this, well then, I think that they would not object so strenuously.

If you look at the buildings, you'll find that one part looks as if it was designed by one man, and you go around and look at another facade and it looks as if it was designed by another man, you see.

But now I know that it is very important that all buildings should be consistent, that this is the quality of the Gothic cathedral, for instance, that we like.

The Wayne Education Building was the first classroom building that we have done on the Wayne campus.

In other words, each piece of the building must look as though it was designed for that particular building.

And exciting buildings are fine periodically.

I believe that we must understand the economy of the situation.

So what we have tried to do in our later buildings is to try to be completely consistent, as a painter is consistent or as a sculptor is consistent. Architecture also must be very consistent.

The purpose of architecture is to create an atmosphere in which man can live, work, and enjoy.

Because, if we understand how a building is to be produced and we find a way that it can be more simply produced, then obviously we are contributing to building better buildings more easily.

I didn't want to lose the human scale.