The Outsider Everyone Wants to Let In

The old city in Jerusalem is a holy place with strict building codes and a tradition of using local Jerusalem stone. How were you able to convince the municipal government to allow you to construct an aluminum sphere in the center of the city?
The key was the site. It’s right in the middle of the Jewish, Christian, Armenian, and Muslim quarters. The idea was to convince each ethnic group that the proposed building was proportionally greater on their side than any other. As a result, it was passed unanimously.

Architecture as politics?
To some extent, yes. If successful, the public will have a negative reaction to the luminous sheathing and develop a greater appreciation for their own local materials, and then, perhaps, this will lead to a new outlook on their neighborhood, each other, and eventually pave the way to peace in the Middle East.

I notice you don’t wear your signature eyewear anymore. Did you have laser surgery?
I have a confession to make: my eyesight is 20/15. When I was a young scholar, I needed a way to stand out from the pack. That purpose has been nullified —not to mention, I recently encountered a landscape architect from Kentucky who looked more like me than myself. I also stopped wearing red scarves.

You must feel naked.
Completely. But I’m in the process of designing a new line of monocles. With a little work, they can be quite functional.

Many famous architects—like yourself—have entered the field of product design: teapots, vases, furniture. Is this the future?
Architecture used to be about the entire experience. But in recent history you have seen an explosion of “interior designers,” “landscapers,” “decorators,” “party planners” preying upon the deep insecurities of the illiterate consumer. The time has come for the architect to re-educate the masses and show them just how irreplaceable we are.

Is there anything an architect shouldn’t design?
No. All design, whether a skyscraper or a telephone jack, is about structure. Someone approached me the other day to design a new line of underwear.

Boxers or briefs?
Briefs, of course. What could be more structural? They will come with an optional cable system! I was also asked to do a line of women’s bras, but my wife didn’t approve.

Not to mention the time it might take away from your buildings.
But that’s exactly why we have to do this type of thing—to pay for all the competitions! Our last model for the Opera House in Green Bay cost $375,000. They only give you $125,000…it’s almost enough to make you want to go back and do public housing.

Couldn’t you spend less?
Axono/Perspectica recently started using gold-plated miniature halogen fixtures to light their streets. Such accoutrements go a long way with juries. We’ve had to recycle parts of a model from one competition to use in another. Fortunately, I have a singular style that makes the pieces somewhat interchangeable.

In your early writings you criticized the Modernists for not showing enough sensitivity to their environment, yet today, in your own work, as well as in many of your contemporaries’ work, the forms are more complex. Is there really a difference in the way you approach designing a building in Portland or, say, Beijing?
Today the world has become one. Cultural diversity is reflected in the makeup of the work force. You should see my office: Indians, Koreans, Iranians, Greeks, Americans, all working side by side, investigating design as it relates to form in its purest form. The culture, in effect, is mixed into the batter from the beginning, rather than adding it on at the end like frosting on a cake.

One big melting cake.
Exactement!

Who’s your favorite living architect?
I’ll humor you—me, of course.