Richard Meier Quotations

Wood floors give it a warmth that works well with the openness and transparency of the units, the way in which the wood extends out to the balcony. It gives it a continuity of surface, and people can then put down carpet or rugs or whatever they want.

One of the main objections, I think, was that I am American.

It is a very significant project for the city that will demonstrate Rome's ability to move into the 21st century so people should care deeply about it.

Our view is the entire World Trade Center is a sacred precinct, a place of dignity, a place of aspiration, a place of contemplation and of hope and memory,

As there hasn't been any new modern architecture built in the historic center of Rome since Mussolini's time I think the Ara Pacis Museum became a lightening rod for issues that were not directly related to the building itself.

The modern museum is much more flexible, open and transparent. There's a lightness here that is different than in ancient museums.

This building is different from any other building I have done.

It's of a scale that not many people have done.

I've experienced Rome since I was a student there in 1955 and at the American Academy in 1976. It is a place that I have spent time in, loved and absorbed. It never occurred to me that I would someday build in Rome. It didn't seem that it was in the realm of possibilities.

Any work of architecture that has with it some discussion, some polemic, I think is good. It shows that people are interested, people are involved.

To be an architect has been a life-long dream. Little did I know when asked at the age of 14 'what do you want to do when you grow up?' I said I wanted to be an architect. After 50 years I am still learning all what that means. Working together with so many people has been enormously gratifying. Being an architect means being a member of a fantastic team.

Rome has not seen a modern building in more than half a century. It is a city frozen in time.

When I think of a place of worship, I think of a place where one can sit and be reminded of all the things that are important outside our individual lives. To express spirituality, the architect has to think of the original material of architecture, space and light.

We are all affected by Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, and Mies van der Rohe. But no less than Bramante, Borromini, and Bernini. Architecture is a tradition, a long continuum. Whether we break with tradition or enhance it, we are still connected to that past. We evolve.

An important work of architecture will create polemics.

The responsibility of an architect is to create a sense of order, a sense of place, a sense of relationship.

Architecture which enters into a symbiosis with light does not merely create form in light, by day and at night, but allow light to become form.

I think white is the most wonderful color of all, because within it one can find every color of the rainbow.

When I am asked what I believe in, I say that I believe in architecture. Architecture is the mother of the arts. I like to believe that architecture connects the present with the past and the tangible with the intangible.