| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 46019 |
| QUOTATION: | The architect ... has something in common with the landscape gardener. Everyone can grasp the fact that the gardener’s success depends on whether or not the plants he selects for the garden thrive there. No matter how beautiful his conception of a garden may be it will, nevertheless, be a failure if it is not the right environment for the plants, if they cannot flourish in it. The architect, too, works with living things—with human beings, who are much more incalculable than plants. If they cannot thrive in his house its apparent beauty will be of no avail—without life it becomes a monstrosity. It will be neglected, fall into disrepair and change into something quite different from what he intended. Indeed, one of the proofs of good architecture is that it is being utilized as the architect had planned. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Steen Eiler Rasmussen (1898–1990), Danish architect, city planner. Experiencing Architecture, 2nd edition, ch. 1, MIT Press (1962). |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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