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David Chipperfield

David Chipperfield Quotes

Architect

David Chipperfield is a renowned British architect known for his minimalist and modern design style. Born on December 18, 1953, he has gained international recognition since the 1980s. Chipperfield's architectural designs emphasize respect for history and culture, while also focusing on sustainability and functionality.

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Famous David Chipperfield Quotes

“A building is no good if someone's got to explain to you why it's good. You can't say you don't know enough about architecture - that's ridiculous. It's got to work on many levels.”

Ifs Knows Enough Levels Building Architecture Ridiculous

Author:David Chipperfield

“Architecture has curled up in a ball and it's about itself. It has found itself either as a freakshow, where you're not sure if it's good or bad but at least it's interesting, or at the behest of forces of commerce.”

Ifs Found Force Interesting Balls Architecture Not Sure Commerce

Author:David Chipperfield

“Britain loves a bargain, but you don't get good, lasting architecture on the cheap.”

Architecture Britain Lasting Bargains

Author:David Chipperfield

“I do quite like Gehry's Guggenheim. But where in Bilbao it's seen as an outgrowth of years of investment in urban design and engineering, in Britain it's seen as the catalyst for urban regeneration rather than the icing on the cake.”

Years Design Investment Britain Cake Engineering Urban Catalyst Regeneration Icing Icing On The Cake Urban Design

Author:David Chipperfield

“I like to be surrounded by books. My wife Evelyn has a PhD in comparative literature so we have a lot of her Spanish and German literature books which are wasted on me, plus a lot of novels and books on art and architecture shared by us both. Evelyn used to edit an art magazine called FMR, so we have a common interest in design.”

Art Book Used Literature Interest Common Novel Wife Design My Wife Architecture Magazines Plus Edits Common Interests Comparative Literature

Author:David Chipperfield

“I don't think architecture is radical. How can something that takes years and costs millions be radical?”

Thinking Years Millions Cost Architecture Radical

Author:David Chipperfield

“I'm suspicious of the idea of architects acting like business executives, brand managers, or purveyors of luxury goods.”

Ideas Acting Luxury Brands Managers Executives Goods Architect Suspicious Luxury Goods

Author:David Chipperfield

“It is difficult to separate oneself from one's design moralities.”

Difficult Design Morality Oneself

Author:David Chipperfield

“We see buildings in Britain mostly as freestanding objects. They are not meant to have a dialogue with anything around them, or with history, or with ideas of any kind beyond the self-referential. What we call 'regeneration' is largely an excuse for building for maximum profit with a bit of sculptural design thrown in to catch the eye of the media.”

Kind Ideas Self Eye Bits Media Design Objects Building Profit Excuse Dialogue Britain Thrown Maximum Regeneration

Author:David Chipperfield

“I do very little industrial design. I'm asked a lot, but I certainly don't see myself as an industrial designer.”

Littles Design Designer Industrial Design

Author:David Chipperfield

“The difference between good and bad architecture is the time you spend on it.”

Differences Architecture Good And Bad

Author:David Chipperfield

“I suppose I'm trying to build an architecture that's as timeless as possible, although we're all creatures of our age.”

Trying Age Creatures Architecture Timeless

Author:David Chipperfield

“Seeing architecture differently from the way you see the rest of life is a bit weird. I believe one should be consistent in all that one does, from the books you read to the way you bring up your children. Everything you do is connected.”

Way Should Believe Children Doe Book Life Is I Believe Bits Seeing Our Children Connected Architecture Your Children Consistent Rest Of Life

Author:David Chipperfield

“Most architects work in studios largely divorced from academia, as if ideas, criticism and historical research were irrelevant.”

Ifs Ideas Research Criticism Historical Studios Architect Irrelevant Divorced Academia Historical Research

Author:David Chipperfield

“You don't restore 'The Last Supper' by filling in the missing bits - you preserve. You accept the material that has somehow survived.”

Lasts Bits Accepting Missing Materials Preserves Survived Filling Supper Filling In Last Supper

Author:David Chipperfield

“It used to be presumed that if you weren't at your desk working, you weren't working. But we said, why can't we make a workplace where casual meetings are as important as working at your desk? Sometimes that's where your better creative work happens.”

Ifs Said Important Sometimes Happens Used Creative Meetings Used To Be Desks Workplace Casual Creative Work

Author:David Chipperfield

“I think that the point of being an architect is to help raise the experience of everyday living, even a little. Putting a window where people would really like one. Making sure a shaving mirror in a hotel bathroom is at the right angle. Making bureaucratic buildings that are somehow cheerful.”

People Thinking Littles Helping Building Window Mirrors Raises Everyday Hotel Architect Angle Cheerful Bathroom Shaving Everyday Living

Author:David Chipperfield

“Often architects work too hard trying to make their buildings look different. It’s like we’re actors let loose on a stage, all speaking our parts at the same time in our own private languages without an audience.”

Trying Looks Different Hard Actors Language Audience Stage Building Architect

Author:David Chipperfield

“I spent more than ten years working on the Neues Museum. It was a wonderful experience, an example of real collaboration between architects, conservationists, curators, client, politicians, the media, and the public. Discussions, even when difficult, were always about ideas. Ideas matter to Germans. They're a reflective people. That's attractive.”

People Years Ideas Real Matter Difficult Wonderful Media Example Politician Ten Discussion Attractive Museums Collaboration Architect Clients Wonderful Experience Curator

Author:David Chipperfield

“I may not be the most interesting architect, but I'm still out there and have maintained some position of integrity.”

May Stills Interesting Position Integrity Architect Most Interesting I May Not Be

Author:David Chipperfield

“There is a danger when every building has to look spectacular; to look like it is changing the world. I don't care how a building looks if it means something, not to architects, but to the people who use it.”

“Britain gets the architecture it deserves. We don’t value architecture, we don’t take it seriously, we don’t want to pay for it and the architect isn’t trusted.”

Want Values Pay Deserve Architecture Britain Architect Trusted

Author:David Chipperfield

“If you look at a building by Mies van der Rohe, it might look very simple, but up close, the sheer quality of construction, materials and thought are inspirational.”

Ifs Looks Might Simple Quality Building Materials Construction Sheer Vans Mies Van Der Rohe

Author:David Chipperfield

“In Britain, we've tended to replace the kind of architectural culture valued in much of Europe with an in-flight magazine lifestyle - all branding, marketing and 'accessibility', a word that usually means dumbing-down.”

Kind Mean Culture Europe Marketing Lifestyle Flight Magazines Britain Branding Accessibility Dumbing Down

Author:David Chipperfield

About the Author

Born: December 18, 1953
Known for: Architect
Quotes: 24

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