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It's my goal to make a building as immaterial as possible. Architecture is a very material thing. It takes a lot of resources, so why not eliminate what you don't need as long as you're able to achieve the same result?

Helmut Jahn

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Helmut Jahn
Age: 81 †
Born: 1940
Born: January 4
Died: 2021
Died: May 8
Architect
Murphy/Jahn
Long
Takes
Eliminate
Make
Results
Architecture
Possible
Material
Goal
Result
Able
Materials
Need
Resources
Needs
Building
Thing
Achieve
Immaterial

More quotes by Helmut Jahn

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I strive for an architecture from which nothing can be taken away.
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In Europe, architects consider themselves artists. They think they're special when they win a competition.
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When I think of some of my earlier work, it really seems a fortunate coincidence that I succeeded.
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We prefer synthetic rather than natural materials. Natural products are almost too valuable. Wood is much harder to produce than metal. And metal is recyclable, while wood isn't.
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I find if my body feels well and I exercise regularly, I think better, work better and feel better.
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I've never looked at a suburban building as being a minor building and an urban building as being a major building.
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Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the inessential than with inventing something new.
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For me, drawing generates thinking and vice versa.
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Transparency is not the same as looking straight through a building: it's not just a physical idea, it's also an intellectual one.
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A city building, you experience when you walk a suburban building, you experience when you drive.
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You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you take a cab just to go around the corner.
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I wanted to improve the suburban office building to create a great urban space in a suburban environment with all that implies about interaction, collaboration and creativity.
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The American attitude towards efficiency and execution should always underlie architecture.
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