150+ Inspirational Design and Architecture Quotes

For those days when you need an extra dose of motivation, here is a collection of my all-time favorite inspirational design and architecture quotes!

I believe the right words at the right moment can completely change your mindset. You can be inspired to pursue something new that you never before believed you could do. You can find the courage to dive into the unknown. You can overcome self-doubt and push the inner critical mind out of the way. It is truly amazing what we can do with the right motivation.

No matter how difficult the task at hand is, I hope these design and architecture quotes from great architects, designers, and thinkers will inspire you to stay focused and get things done.

Architecture Quotes

“An architect’s designs must refer to the unquestionable perfection of the body’s symmetry and proportions. If a building is to create a sense of eurythmy, it is essential that it mirrors these natural laws of harmony and beauty.” – Vitruvius

“Life is architecture, and architecture is the mirror of life.” – I. M. Pei

“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

“If you weren’t an optimist, it would be impossible to be an architect.” – Norman Foster

“Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.” – Le Corbusier

“You can learn from the past, but you can’t continue to be in the past; history is not a substitute for imagination.” – Frank Gehry

“Nothing requires the architect’s care more than the due proportions of buildings.” – Vitruvius

“The limits of architecture are its strength. Its inability to give form to a transient idea. Its inevitable tendency to stabilize, is the latent power of architecture.” – David Chipperfield

“Architecture arouses sentiments in man. The architect’s task, therefore, is to make those sentiments more precise.” – Adolf Loos

“I don’t think that architecture is only about shelter… It should be able to excite you, to calm you, to make you think.” – Zaha Hadid

“Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurythmy, Symmetry, Propriety, and Economy.” – Vitruvius

“We use in German the word ‘Baukunst’ that are two words: Bau (Building) and Kunst (Art). The art is the refinement of the building. We hated the word architecture because architecture is something from the outside.” – Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

“Architecture begins where engineering ends.” – Walter Gropius

“Give them the vision of Oz, show them the direction, convince them you can create the yellow brick road; the rest is civil engineering.” – Dirk Susharme

“For 2000 years architects have been thinking about what happens when a vertical column meets a horizontal beam. Let’s not forget history.” – Unknown

“I think people should try to teach young children that these qualities – stubbornness and a capacity to listen – might like like they are opposites, but they are not.” – Renzo Piano

“Architecture is the reaching out for the truth.” – Louis Kahn

“You have to really believe in not only yourself; you have to believe that the world is worth your sacrifices.” – Zaha Hadid

“Architecture is about trying to make the world a little bit more like our dreams.” – Bjarke Ingels

“In architecture you should live for 150 years, because you have to learn in the first 75 years.” – Renzo Piano

“Architecture is not based on concrete and steel and the elements of the soil. It’s based on wonder.” – Daniel Libeskind

“We borrow from nature the space upon which we build.” – Tadao Ando

“But out of limitations comes creativity.” – Debbie Allen

“The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own, we have no soul of our own citizenship.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

“I hope you will understand that architecture has nothing to do with invention of forms. It is not a playground for children, young or old. Architecture wrote the history of the epochs and gave them their names.” – Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

“I do not believe architecture has to speak too much. It should remain silent and let nature in the guise of sunlight and wind.” – Tadao Ando

“A room is not a room without natural light.” – Louis Kahn

“You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledge hammer on the construction site.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

“All find architectural values are human values, else not valuable.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

“Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.” – Le Corbusier

“Architecture is like writing. You have to edit it over and over, so it looks effortless.” – Zaha Hadid

“I don’t know why people hire architects and then tell them what to do.” – Frank Gehry

“Less is only more where more is no good.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

“Build, don’t talk.” – Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

“The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building.” – Louis Kahn

“I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.” – Le Corbusier

“Even a space intended to be dark should have just enough light from some mysterious opening to tell us how dark it really is.” – Louis Kahn

“Architecture is just art we live in… why doesn’t anybody get that?” – Jake Stone (The Librarians)

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

“Architects have to dream. We have to search for our Atlantises, to be explorers, adventurers, and yet to build responsibly and well.” – Renzo Piano

“Space is the breath of art.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

“The creation of art is not the fulfillment of a need, but the creation of a need. The world never needed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony until he created it. Now we could not live without it.” – Louis I Kahn

“Tradition is a discipline, a defense against fantasy, against ephemeral fashions, against the harmful errors of mediocrities.” – Franco Albini

“It took me a few seconds to draw it, but it took me 34 years to learn how to draw it in a few seconds.” – Paula Scher

“Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” – Steve Martin

“We don’t believe in moving to a new place and replicating the old one you left behind. Where’s the fun in that?” – Andrew Fisher

“The pencil and computer are, if left to their own devices, equally dumb and only as good as the person driving them.” – Sir Norman Foster

“We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us.” – Winston Churchill

“It is better to imitate ancient than modern work.” – Leonardo da Vinci

“I call architecture frozen music.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.” – Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

“Architecture is the thoughtful making of space.” – Louis Kahn

“To provide meaningful architecture is not to parody history, but to articulate it.” – Daniel Libeskind

“Architecture is a visual art, and the buildings speak for themselves.” – Julia Morgan

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

Design Quotes

“Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Good design is a matter of discipline. It starts by looking at the problem and collecting all the available information about it. If you understand the problem, you have the solution. It’s really more about logic than imagination.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” – Paul Rand

“Whatever we do, if not understood, fails to communicate and is wasted effort.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Good design concentrates on the essential aspects.” – Dieter Rams

“The life of a designer is a life of fight against the ugliness. Fight against the ugliness.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Good design is in all the things you notice.” – Wim Hovens

“Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful.” – Dieter Rams

“Not everything is design. But design is everything. So do yourself a favor; be ready for anything.” – Michael Beirut

“I like design to be semantically correct, syntactically consistent, and pragmatically understandable. I like it to be visually powerful, intellectually elegant, and above all timeless.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Good design is as little design as possible. Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity. Back to simplicity.” – Dieter Rams

“One life is too short for doing everything.” – Massimo Vignelli

“If you do it right, it will last forever.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Good design is ubiquitous and forever. Bad design is localized and temporary.” – Massimo Vignelli

“I prefer to work with the looseness of pencil rather than the precision of ink or a computer.” – Them Mayne

“Minimalism is beyond time. It is the stillness of perfection.” – Massimo Vignelli

“The role of a designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host, anticipating the needs of his guests.” – Charles Eames

“Keep good company. Notice the ordinary. Preserve the ephemeral. Design not for the elite but for the masses. Explain it to a child. Get lost in the content. Get to the heart of the matter. Never tolerate “O.K.” anything. Remember your responsibility as a storyteller. Zoom out. Switch. Prototype it. Pun. Make design your life… and life, your design. Leave something behind.” – Charles and Ray Eames

“The details are not the details. They make the design.” – Charles Eames

“To create something exceptional, your mindset must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail.” – Giorgio Armani

“Design is not for philosophy. It’s for life.” – Issey Miyake

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs

“Everything you can imagine is real.” – Pablo Picasso

“Design is where science and art break even.” – Mieke Gerritzen

“Design is thinking made visual.” – Saul Bass

“To create, one must first question everything.” – Eileen Gray

“Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” – Paul Rand

“Art is freedom. Being able to bend things most people see as a straight line.”

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.” – Pablo Picasso

“Look at usual things with unusual eyes.” – Vico Magistretti

“This tremendous world I have inside of me. How to free myself, and this world, without tearing myself to pieces. And rather tear myself to a thousand pieces than be buried with this world within me.” – Franz Kafka

“Design is a marvelous mission. Go out, spread the world. It is your turn now.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Art is the journey of a free soul.” – Alev Oguz

“To develop a complete mind:
Study the science of art;
Study the art of science;
Learn how to see.
Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
– Leonardo da Vinci

“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” – Pablo Picasso

“I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.” – Saul Bass

“Creativity needs the support of knowledge to be able to perform at its best.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Minimalism is not a style. It is an attitude, a way of being. It’s a fundamental reaction against noise, visual noise, disorder, vulgarity. Minimalism is a pursuit of the essence of things, not the appearance.” – Massimo Vignelli

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein

“Make it simple, but significant.”

“Minimalism is an appreciation of space.”

Motivational Quotes

“It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you implement that effort into your life… every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs. Keep going. Remember why you started.”

“Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem

“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. But if you schedule it, it’s real.” – Tony Robbins

“One day, you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.” – Paulo Coelho

“Do your thing. Do it unapologetically. Don’t be discouraged by criticism. You probably already know what they’re going to say. Pay no mind to the fear of failure. It’s far more valuable than success. Take ownership, take chances, and have fun. And no matter what, don’t ever stop doing your thing.” – Asher Roth

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” – Leonardo da Vinci

“People who do not understand your silence will never understand your words.”

“If you know you can do better… then do better.”

“If you’re not doing what you love, you’re wasting your time.”

“Master the art of observing.”

“Great things never came from comfort zones.”

“Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.”

“Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life.”

“Always remember to fall asleep with a dream and wake up with a purpose.”

“Simple things become complicated when you expect too much.”

“Be patient. The best things happen unexpectedly.”

“Don’t be the same. Be better.”

“I am still learning.” – Michelangelo

“If you don’t have big dreams and goals, you’ll end up working really hard for someone who does.”

“You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution to their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.” – Alice in Wonderland

“Enjoy it. Because it’s happening.”

“Keep going, you are getting there.”

“If it doesn’t matter, get rid of it.”

“Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so.”

“Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.”

“Learn to say ‘no’ without explaining yourself.”

“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So with and draw and build and play and dance and live only as you can.”

“A bad attitude can literally block love, blessings, and destiny from finding you. Don’t be the reason you don’t success.”

“Home is not a place..it’s a feeling.”

“The key to happiness is letting each situation be what is instead of what you think it should be.”

“Everything doesn’t need to be talked about.”

“Surround yourself with people who have dreams, desire and ambition; they’ll help you push for, and realize your own.”

“Tough situations build strong people.”

“Every morning you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams, or wake up and chase them.”

“Be all in or get all out. There is no halfway.”

“Many things aren’t equal but everyone gets the same 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We make time for what we truly want.”

“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”

“Let people do what they need to do to make them happy, mind your own business, and do what you need to do to make you happy.”

“Great things never came from comfort zones.”

“Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.”

“Note to Self: You gotta do this for you. This is for you. This isn’t about anybody. Live for you. Honor you. Never lose sight of that.”

“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”

“First simple rule in life: If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it.”

“Life is too short to start your day with broken pieces of yesterday. It will definitely destroy your wonderful today and ruin your great tomorrow.”

“Not caring what other people think is the best choice you will ever make.”

“The harder you work for something, the greater you’ll feel when you achieve it.”

“Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe, and have faith that everything will work out for the best.”

“Dream. Create. Inspire.”

“You are your only limit.”

“Don’t let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” – Dalai Lama

“Limits exist only in the mind.”

“Do all things with love.”

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein

“It wasn’t a waste of time if you learned something.”

“Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.” – Victor Hugo

“‘It’s impossible,’ said pride. “It’s risky,” said experience. “It’s pointless,” said reason. “Give it a try,” whispered the heart.”

“Work hard in silence. Let success be your noise.”

“Find what you love, and let it kill you.” – Bukowski

Which one is your all-time favorite quote on architecture and design?