“There's a snobbery at work in architecture. The subject is too often treated as a fine art, delicately wrapped in mumbo-jumbo. In reality, it's an all-embracing discipline taking in science, art, maths, engineering, climate, nature, politics, economics.”

“I think cars encapsulate the history of innovation and style - it's the other side of the coin of the car being public enemy No.1.”

“As an architect, you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.”

“When the Great Fire of London destroyed most of the medieval city in 1666, Christopher Wren was invited to design a new one. Within days, he had drawn up an elegant grid of broad boulevards leading to majestic squares, but it came to nothing - the existing landowners wanted things as they had been.”

“I describe the design process as like the tip of the iceberg. What you don't see is the long haul: all the endless auditing and things like that.”

“Everything we design is a response to the specific climate and culture of a particular place.”

“I think you never stop learning.”

“The most amazing lesson in aerodynamics I ever had was the day I climbed a thermal in a glider at the same time as an eagle. I witnessed, close up, effortlessness and lightness combined with strength, precision and determination.”

“There's a snobbery at work in architecture. The subject is too often treated as a fine art, delicately wrapped in mumbo-jumbo. In reality, it's an all-embracing discipline taking in science, art, maths, engineering, climate, nature, politics, economics.”