An architect is no ballerina. But like any carpenter or electrician, like a director or even a simple walk-on performer without lines, the architect must be familiar with the work, must know when not to use too much light, or too little, must know how to avoid an expression that is overdone or too subtle, must recognize the differences among all the many voices and gestures so as not to attribute equal weight when doing so would be in error. The craft is incompatible with the very notion of specialization - the notion of an architect specializing in museums, an architect specializing in skyscrapers.
Almost all of us came to be stamped with a label denoting "expert" in some area or another, but only someone who has experienced museums can truly design a town house, and vice versa.
Alvaro Siza
Quoted in the preface of Alvaro Siza: inside the city, by Marc Dubois
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