"Essentially, criticism is a form of
self-introspection."
in "Interviews with Arata Isozaki in Asia"

by Arata Isozaki

"If a place has a history, the culture will subsiste as traces of memory, and I think if architects were willing to take them into considerations, they would become crucial. Such manual labors as used in the Stone Age would become crucial. That is why architects will be forced to develope a skill to navigate through the world. Unless you know how to swim well, you will be easily drowned. Such a strange era we are in."
in "Interviews with Arata Isozaki in Asia"

o meu pensamento

"Está em mim como eu mesmo; age infalivelmente; julga, decide... Mas quanto a exprimi-lo, é-me tão difícil como dizer aquilo que me faz ser eu, que conheço de forma tão precisa e tão diferente."
in "Eupalino ou o Arquitecto" de Paulo Valéry

Faço minhas estas palavras...

Eupalino ou o Arquitecto

"Sócrates:
Existem portanto, duas artes que encerram o homem no homem; ou antes, que encerram o ser na sua obra, e a alma no seus actos e nas produções dos seus actos. Através de duas artes, ele envolve-se de duas maneiras, de leis e de vontades interiores, figuradas numa matéria ou na outra, a pedra ou o ar.

Fedro:
Vejo bem que a Música e a Arquitectura têm cada uma esse profundo parentesco connosco.

Sócrates:
Ambas ocupam a totalidade de um sentido. Não escapamos a uma senão por uma secção interior; à outra, senão pelos movimentos. "
in "Eupalino ou o Arquitecto" de Paul Valéry

in praise of shadows

"Whenever I see the alcove of a tastefully built Japanese room, I marvel at our comprehension of the secrets of shadows, our sensitive use of shadow and light. For the beauty of the alcove is not the work of some clever device. An empty space marked off with plain wood and plain walls, so that the light drawn into it forms dim shadows within emptiness. There is nothing more. And yet, when we gaze into the darkness that gathers behind the crossbeam, around the fectly vase, beneath the shelves, though we know perfectly well it is mere shadow, we are overcome with the feeling that in this small corner of atmosphere there reigns complete and utter silence; that here in "mysterious Orient" of which Westerners speak probably refers to the uncanny silence of these dark places. Where lies the key to the mystery? Ultimately it is the magic of shadows. Were the shadows to be banished from its corners, the alcove would in that instant revert to mere void.
This was the genius of our ancestors, that by cutting off the light from this empty space they imparted to the world of shadows that formed there a quality of mystery and depth superior to that of any wall painting or ornament."
in "In Praise of Shadows" by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki

Fábula de um Arquitecto

A arquitectura como construir portas,

de abrir: ou como construir o aberto;

construir não como ilhar ou prender,

nem construir como fechar secretos;

construir portas abertas, em portas;

casas exclusivamente portas e tecto.

O arquitecto: que abre para o homem

(tudo se sanearia desde casas abertas)

portas por-onde, jamais portas contra;

por onde, livres: ar luz razão certa.

de João Cabral de Melo Neto