Annabelle Selldorf

I always tend to think, even in residential projects, about what a space is being asked to do - where is it located, what are the circumstances, where can I attack the problem, so to speak. How can you create a narrative for people moving through it? How can you convey its character?

I think when you look at architectural photography it doesn't help to have piles of old clothes lying on the floor. Architectural photography sets up an artifice.

I never like things that don't look nice. It's really that simple.

When everything is perfectly orderly and understandable, there has to be one thing that puts everything into question.

What I do isn't radical. It's just distinct in small ways.

I make spaces that are calm rather than confrontational. I seek a certain kind of logic that allows you to move in space and perceive it as beautiful and rational. Clarity is a worthwhile quality.

I was brought up to reuse things.

To me, the nicest luxury would be to have a room where I could keep all my books in one place - and have space for more.

So much of what makes a room great is how you enter and circulate through it, how it addresses the body.

The secret of good architecture is having more than meets the eye.

I know I'm old-fashioned, but there's just something about the act of looking at books versus taking in information on a screen, which is so one-dimensional. There's a sense of ownership that you have with books, a physical connection.

Architecture is about aging well, about precision and authenticity. There is much more to the success of a building than what you can see. I'm not suggesting that gestural architecture is always superficial, but solid reasoning has its place.

I remember, as a young architect, people always talked about I. M. Pei's concrete. He had a particular specification no one else knew.

Everything is complicated about using concrete - the discipline and dedication necessary to make consistent batches, understanding exactly how the formwork will be laid, what the timing is for the pours, how you keep it clean and neat to achieve a fine quality.

All clients think that they are architects.

I'm not so interested in technology for technology's sake. I don't need incredibly sophisticated climate-control systems. And I'm absolutely amazed at the time people spend exchanging messages; I don't have a lot of time left over for those things.

There isn't any one material that's mine. It all depends on the context. For example, I did a house that had the most exquisite marble applications. That sounds ostentatious, but it wasn't, given the context. The color white I subscribe to extensively. I love thinking about color, but I often go with white.

I'm inspired by looking at art, by looking at precedent. Looking is what you have to do if you want to make things, so you develop a critical eye.

Tension is an interesting quality - and architecture must have it. There should be elements of the inexplicable, the mysterious, and the poetic in something that is perfectly rational.

There's no architect who doesn't want to build a library - and I am no different. With so much scrutiny now attached to reading - because of technology and how we approach it as a social activity - that is a very exciting area in architecture.

One of the things I've always loved about New York is there is so much precedent for ornament on industrial buildings.

When you have rules to abide by, does that curtail you as a designer, or set you free? People think of classical architecture visually, but I think the brilliant part of it is actually spatial.