Charles Jencks Quotes

But I do believe architecture, and all art, should be content-driven. It should have something to say beyond the sensational.

In 1979, postmodernism lost its understanding of the meaning of ornament. It degenerated into kitsch applique.

It's a mark of any icon that it should be open to iconoclasm.

Like our attitude to love, truth and goodness, we seem to be confident about knowing what beauty is - certain, even dogmatic - until we think hard about the idea, whereupon all confidence flies away.

The rule seems to be that there are no absolutes, that what is rare is prized. Thus, in times of relative affluence, thin models become dominant.

A sign to me is a one-liner, a symbol is very complex and my house is a series of symbols.

Cant you see, we are in a dialogue with the universe?

What is a garden if not a miniaturization and celebration, of the place we are in, the universe?

What is the most interesting thing to people? Other people.

The cell is a city of production centres, each part working away like mad, and it's co-ordinated. Six trillion cells in a body - you can't help but be moved.

I think any cancer patient, if you dig not too deeply, they want to live.

I've been a lucky man. I've only faced one real tragedy: the death of my wife, Maggie, from cancer in 1995.

Beautiful people are always with us, as evolutionary psychologists and a trip to the news-stand confirm.

I do believe architecture, and all art, should be content-driven. It should have something to say beyond the sensational.

Mies van der Rohe's architecture and modern architecture in general suffered from not only being repetitive, but not explaining to the populous what the different rooms were for.