In architecture, imagination is more important than wealth
Summary
- In architecture, imagination is more important than wealth
Details
- "People like to show off rich splendour not because they love it, but because they are lacking in originality"
- It is harder to come up with something new than it is to throw money at the problem and copy something existing
- It is more satisfying to have something original than it is to copy an existing design.
References
Quotes
The Chinese writer Li Liwen, in his book The Art of Living (we need more books with such titles: living is an art, not something that you fit in around your job), argued that when it came to building houses, wealth was no substitute for imagination:
Luxury and expensiveness are the things most to be avoided in architecture. This is so because not only the common people, but also the princes and high officials, should cherish the virtue of simplicity. For the important thing in a living house is not splendour, but refinement; not elaborate decorativeness, but novelty and elegance. People like to show off their rich splendour not because they love it, but because they are lacking in originality, and, besides trying to show off, they are at a total loss to invent something else. That is why they have to put up with mere splendour.
‘Mere splendour’ is the way of the botherer. I’m sure we have all visited houses where huge efforts have been made to keep up with the pressures of fashion. There are pricy artworks dotted around, the sofas are minimal, and yet there is a stifling atmos phere that makes you want to leave five minutes after you have arrived.