I think my clients would tell you I’m a problem solver. I’m not there to agree with people. I’m there to articulate a point of view. Am I insistent and tenacious? Absolutely. I could not get this work done if I was not. – Thom Mayne
The huge problem in our society is the enormous ignorance of the ideas that underlie modern art. – Thom Mayne
We only exist in terms of how we think we exist. Meaning every cultural development is fabricated and can be fabricated. – Thom Mayne
So I am totally aware that when I defend the autonomy of art I’m going counter to my own development. It’s more an instinctive reaction, meant to protect the private aspect of the work, the part I am most interested in and which nowadays is at risk in our culture. – Thom Mayne
I think all good architecture should challenge you, make you start asking questions. You don’t have to understand it. You may not like it. That’s OK. – Thom Mayne
It’s too simplistic to advance the notion of the autonomy of art as a reason for turning away from the public. You can have autonomy and simultaneously have connections with the social and political world. – Thom Mayne
Our idea of nature is increasingly being determined by scientific developments. And they have become decisive for our image of reality. – Thom Mayne
I lived in a state of rage from 12 to 20. Until college, I was beyond an outsider. I was a voyeur of life. – Thom Mayne
I’m often called an old-fashioned modernist. But the modernists had the absurd idea that architecture could heal the world. That’s impossible. And today nobody expects architects to have these grand visions any more. – Thom Mayne
So at a time in which the media give the public everything it wants and desires, maybe art should adopt a much more aggressive attitude towards the public. I myself am very much inclined to take this position. – Thom Mayne
So we can’t go backwards, we can only go where the evolutionary trajectory is taking us and attune our ideas about ourselves and our existence to that course. – Thom Mayne
But I absolutely believe that architecture is a social activity that has to do with some sort of communication or places of interaction, and that to change the environment is to change behaviour. – Thom Mayne
I’ve always been interested in an architecture of resistance – architecture that has some power over the way we live. Working under adversarial conditions could be seen as a plus because you’re offering alternatives. Still, there are situations that make you ask the questions: ‘Do I want to be a part of this?’ – Thom Mayne
I’ve grown up a little bit. I understand the importance of the negotiation. It is a collective act. – Thom Mayne
Architecture is the beginning of something because it’s – if you’re not involved in first principles, if you’re not involved in the absolute, the beginning of that generative process, it’s cake decoration. – Thom Mayne
Find a place that you are comfortable with. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Make a lot of mistakes. – Thom Mayne
The aesthetic of architecture has to be rooted in a broader idea about human activities like walking, relaxing and communicating. Architecture thinks about how these activities can be given added value. – Thom Mayne
Architecture is involved with the world, but at the same time it has a certain autonomy. This autonomy cannot be explained in terms of traditional logic because the most interesting parts of the work are non-verbal. They operate within the terms of the work, like any art. – Thom Mayne
Architecture is the story of how we see ourselves. It is the architect’s job to service everyday life. – Thom Mayne
I’ve learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table. – Thom Mayne
There is no modern prototype for a campus. You have to have a completely different model which has to do with transparency and exposing social connectivity and breaking down the Balkanization that happens departmentally. – Thom Mayne
