Joe Wiesenthal

At the highest levels of architecture to do a great building, how much does the architect really need to know?

I guess maybe material science or at least the true nature of specific materials.

I'm really fascinated by this idea of, okay, so one might think that an architect is someone who draws lines, draws sketches on a piece of paper, and then maybe there is an engineering firm, and then there's a construction firm, and then so forth.

I'm fascinated by this idea, and it rings true with other discussions we have.

We talk to traders, for example, and there's obviously a difference between thinking in your head on a good trade versus thinking

what it actually takes to execute it technologically.

Well, since you alluded to it, and now I'm particularly curious about it, I imagine that in the decades ahead, you know, there will still be new JP Morgan headquarters, New Bloomberg headquarters, etc.

But there's probably going to be a lot more

megaproject still coming out of Asia or Beijing or China specifically.

And so when you describe that environment is different, what should the architects of the future know about working in these markets?

No, it makes sense.

And I didn't necessarily expect the interview to go in this direction, but I'm actually just going to press you further on this specific point, which is, what is your diagnosis of why certain countries do seem to have given up?

Was there a moment when you felt it, for example, okay, in the UK?

Was there a moment where you felt...

the ambition is not the same as it once was.

You mentioned creative energy and, of course, one of your famous relatively recent buildings is, of course, the big circular building for Apple.

And that's a strange situation, I imagine, because here is a company

that is also known for an insane amount of creative energy in more or less the same realm as yourself of visual design, right, et cetera.

Was that a unique experience or a distinct experience to work on a building for a company whose main thing is also in large part visual aesthetic?

This sort of leads to my next question, and it kind of relates to, I guess, the sort of cliche, what should young architects or aspiring architects think about?