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

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

Nor did there want
Cornice or frieze with bossy sculpture graven.

Nor did there want
Cornice or frieze with bossy sculpture graven.

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of
the corner.

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of
the corner.

In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
read more

In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the gods see everywhere.

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.

Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose, like an exhalation.

Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose, like an exhalation.

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.

Grandeur . . . consists in form, and not in size: and to the eye
of the philosopher, the read more

Grandeur . . . consists in form, and not in size: and to the eye
of the philosopher, the curve drawn on a paper two inches long,
is just as magnificent, just as symbolic of divine mysteries and
melodies, as when embodied in the span of some cathedral roof.

A man who could build a church, as one may say, by squinting at a
sheet of paper.

A man who could build a church, as one may say, by squinting at a
sheet of paper.