"A truly sustainable city is a city where the least human energy and time is spent in getting things done. Then people have time for reflection and can once again act like human beings, not the robots they have been forced to become."
"The architecture of the future must prioritise conserving the earth’s resources if humans are to overcome the evolutionary crisis that they currently face. Getting better at getting better will not on its own be sufficient. In the face of our accelerating technological supremacy, we can no longer afford to simply ask how much it is possible to extract from our habitat; we are now compelled to ask how much it is reasonable to extract. <…> Non-extractive architecture must fully consider the costs not just for the individual and for society, but also future societies who will live with the consequences of the choices of today’s technologically empowered humans."
"Modern cities right now are too much about efficiency and capital power. It is just about environment, pollution, traffic. Every city has to deal with them, but it doesn’t mean that if you solve them you have a "good city". You and I have a healthy body, but it doesn’t mean that we are mentally healthy… We talk about environment, energy saving and sustainability but I think it’s too much about technology. You have better air conditioning, better glass, better solar panels, but it doesn’t mean those who are working in this building want to stay there forever! They still want to escape every weekend and still go to the countryside because they still feel they aren’t connected with nature. That is the basics, the fundamental reason why we are starting to talk about nature now. If we say we want to be close to nature, why can’t we let the temperature be one degree less or more in your room, in the office?"