Points of Reflection
The building is like a book. Its architecture is the binding, its text is in the glass and sculpture
Malcom Miller
If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Leonardo da Vinci
The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage
All porcupines float in water
Commoner’s four Ecological Laws (from Barry Commoner)
1. Everything is connected to everything else
2. Everything must go somewhere
3. Nature knows best
4. There is no such thing as a free lunch
The highest and widest masonry dome in the world is the Duomo in Florence. It was built in 1436
Walking sideways burns more calories than walking forward
The average water consumption of all Londoners would fill the Empire State Building once a day
Only one book has a wider world wide distribution than the bible: The IKEA catalogue
It's not easy being green
Kermit The Frog
If London was built to the same density as Paris it would provide homes for an additional 23 million people
If all Londoners queued orderly for one bus, the queue would go all the way to Calcutta
A jiffy is an actual unit of time describing 1/100th of a second
The human eye can recognise more shades of green, than shades occurring in any other colour
A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable
Louis Kahn
The amount of heat gained by a building every year is equivalent to the amount of heat lost by it every year
True friendship consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and value
Ben Jonson
In Los Angeles, there are fewer people than there are automobiles
There are 10 million bricks in the Empire State Building
Europe has no deserts. It is the only continent without one.
The Earth experiences over one million earthquakes every year
It took approximately 20,000 men 22 years to build the Taj Mahal
Things need to be ordinary and heroic at the same time
Alison and Peter Smithson
Be the change you want to see in the world
Mahatma Gandhi
The primary factor is proportions
Arne Jacobsen
What is easy is seldom excellent
Samuel Johnson
Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one
Dr. Seuss
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift