When I lately stood with a friend before [the cathedral of]
Amiens, . . . he asked me how read more

When I lately stood with a friend before [the cathedral of]
Amiens, . . . he asked me how it happens that we can no longer
build such piles? I replied: "Dear Alphonse, men in those days
had convictions (Ueberzeugungen), we moderns have opinions
(Meinungen) and it requires something more than an opinion to
build a Gothic cathedral.

The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the
insatiable demand of harmony in man. The mountain read more

The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the
insatiable demand of harmony in man. The mountain of granite
blooms into an eternal flower, with the lightness and delicate
finish, as well as the aerial proportions and perspective of
vegetable beauty.

Ah, to build, to build!
That is the noblest of all the arts.

Ah, to build, to build!
That is the noblest of all the arts.

Architecture is a social act and the material theater of human activity.

Architecture is a social act and the material theater of human activity.

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made
ready before it was brought thither: read more

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made
ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither
hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it
was in building.

Silently as a dream the fabric rose;
No sound of hammer or of saw was there.

Silently as a dream the fabric rose;
No sound of hammer or of saw was there.

There are three forms of visual art: Painting is art to look at, sculpture is art you can walk around, read more

There are three forms of visual art: Painting is art to look at, sculpture is art you can walk around, and architecture is art you can walk through

Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.

Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.

The architect
Built his great heart into these sculptured stones,
And with him toiled his children, and read more

The architect
Built his great heart into these sculptured stones,
And with him toiled his children, and their lives
Were builded, with his own, into the walls,
As offerings unto God.