We hated Bauhaus. It was a bad time in architecture. They just didn't have any talent. All they had were rules. Even for knives and forks they created rules. Picasso would never have accepted rules. The house is like a machine? No! The mechanical is ugly. The rule is the worst thing. You just want to break it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Niemeyer criticizes Bauhaus for rigid rules and lack of talent, favoring organic forms over mechanical ones.
- In plain terms
- Bauhaus was too strict and ugly; I prefer freedom over rules.
- What can you take from it?
- Reject rigid rules that kill creativity.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When do rules help?
- What makes design ugly?
Another view
Some rules ensure safety and usability.
More from Oscar Niemeyer
Life is very fleeting. It's important to be gentle and optimistic. We look behind and think what we've done in this life has been good. It was simple; it was m…
Permalink to quote #10 Architecture was my way of expressing my ideals: to be simple, to create a world equal to everyone, to look at people with optimism, that everyone has a gift. …
Permalink to quote #12 My ambition has always been to reduce a building's support to a minimum. The more we diminish supporting structures, the more audacious and important the archi…
Permalink to quote #9
Related quotes
The best critics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries demand perfect rhyming, and no aspirant for fame can afford to depart from a standard so universal. …
H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft quote #2 If the human intellect is allowed to impose a preconceived pattern on society, if our powers of reasoning are allowed to lay claim to a monopoly of creative ef…
Friedrich HayekFriedrich Hayek quote #4 (Capablanca) wanted to change the rules already back in the 1920's, saying that chess was getting played out. And he was right. Now it's completely dead, it's …
Bobby FischerBobby Fischer quote #6