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All Quotes by author - Richard Rogers

" A greater focus on design in all new homes would make the best use of land, create homes and public spaces, and reinforce the structures of urban life. "

" Architects are not clients. We can't build without something to built. "

" Architects design buildings; that's what we do, so we have to go with the flow; and, even though I'm still an old Leftie, global capitalism does have its good side. It's broken down barriers - the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union - it's raised a lot of people up economically, and for architects, it has meant that we can work around the world. "

" Architecture is about public space held by buildings. "

" Architecture is a living thing. If I want to leave something to the future, it has to be able to change - but retain something of the ethos that we built up over 50 years. "

" Architecture is always political. "

" Architecture is a slow business, and city planning even slower. "

" Architecture is measured against the past; you build in the future, and you try to imagine the future. "

" 'Be passionate about your work and your life' was instilled in me by my mother Dada, who was a potter. She also introduced me to the arts and encouraged me to embrace the new. "

" Cities are about juxtaposition. "

" Cities are about juxtaposition. In Florence, classical buildings sit against medieval buildings. It's that contrast we like. In Bordeaux, we built law courts right next door to what is effectively a listed historic building, and that makes it exciting. "

" Cities depend on a healthy mix of uses and people for their vitality. As a pre-eminent world city, London is a magnet to people from across the globe. "

" Clearly, private developers can have different aims, and architects can only play a certain role. You can have some pretty big battles on public commissions, too. The key is to have a good client. "

" Dyslexia, though, made me realise that people who say 'but you can't do that' aren't actually very important. I don't take 'no' too seriously. "

" Education in British schools isn't good enough. It's not remotely imaginative enough. It lets down too many children, excluding them from society, and, as I've often said, people who are excluded from society tend to express themselves in ways not acceptable to society. "

" Everyone has the right to walk from one end of the city to the other in secure and beautiful spaces. Everybody has the right to go by public transport. Everybody has the right to an unhampered view down their street, not full of railings, signs and rubbish. "

" Family is everything, although I've been fortunate enough to have worked with some of the most amazing minds over the years, including Renzo Piano, John Young, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour. "

" Form follows profit is the aesthetic principle of our times. "

" I am much more passionate about cities than I am about nations. The competition between cities is more civilised than between nations. There is an understanding there. "

" I believe very much in a dialogue between buildings - I believe it's always been there. I think buildings have different identities and live very well next to each other. We always have the shock of the new, and that's fine. The renaissance style is totally different from the medieval, and they have a dialogue across time. "

" I believe very strongly, and have fought since many years ago - at least over 30 years ago - to get architecture not just within schools, but architecture talked about under history, geography, science, technology, art. "

" I cycle, which is a healthy thing for an 80-year-old to do. I rarely go further than five miles, but in those five miles I can get to 80 percent of the places I want to go. "

" I don't believe in the ownership of work. "

" I don't understand why everyone has to wear black, grey and white. "

" If I remember rightly Holland for instance has something like 45, and it's a much smaller country. In comparison we have very few and they are very badly financed. "

" If you had a carbon tax, you'd have less cars and more bicycles, more people getting around on foot and by public transport. "

" If you live in a squalid environment, then of course you are going to want to get out of it, you are probably going to want to get into the country, because that's what it does. "

" I had lots of trouble in school as a child, and I lost confidence. Teachers thought I was stupid. I learned to read very late, when I was 11. Dyslexia wasn't recognized then, and the assumption was you were incapable of thinking. "

" I have a very big family, and that is my number one thing, and we go away for a month to see my cousins in Italy every year, but I need to work. "

" I like the idea of trying to influence society by taking a brief, then maybe subtly changing it or looking at it in a new way to see what interesting things can emerge. "

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