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French designer Philippe Starck

Dezeen's top 10 quotes of 2023

From the incisive to the intemperate, here are Dezeen's top 10 quotes of 2023, taken from the interviews and opinion pieces we have published this year.

Dezeen has published more than 100 interviews and over 50 opinion pieces this year, featuring some of the best-known voices in architecture and design.

Our interviewees and writers have come out with an extensive catalogue of memorable lines, including candid admissions, eloquent attacks on architecture and eyebrow-raising proclamations.

For a monthly pick of the best interviews, opinions and features on Dezeen, subscribe to our Dezeen In Depth newsletter.

Read on for Dezeen's top 10 quotes of 2023:


Photo by Krisztina Papp

"I have a confession to make: I have no idea what placemaking is" – Reinier de Graaf

OMA partner and frequent Dezeen contributor Reinier de Graaf took aim at the concept of placemaking in a memorable opinion piece in September.

"The more I hear the word, the less I understand it," he wrote, in a continuation of his ongoing attempt to deconstruct architectural jargon.

Read the full opinion piece ›


Photo by Caitlin Chescoe

"When I hear, 'we've got a volunteer architecture firm and they're doing this pro bono' – chills at the back of the neck" – Lucy Easthope

Dezeen interviewed emergency planner Lucy Easthope as part of our Designing for Disasters series.

"Almost all of the deaths that I see are a failure of design," she told us.

Read the full interview ›


Photo by Benjamin McMahon

"All content is fed through the same sausage machine" – Neville Brody

British designer Neville Brody has been a leading light in the world of graphic design and typography for decades.

In this interview with Dezeen, he discussed the profound ways in which the shift from print media to digital has affected the discipline.

Read the full interview ›


Photo by Michael Moran

"The Vessel symbolizes everything wrong with America's wealth gap" – Matt Shaw

Thomas Heatherwick's Vessel in New York City has been one of the biggest and most controversial architecture stories of the past few years.

As two years passed since the structure was closed following a spate of suicides, author Matt Shaw wrote about what can be learned from the ill-fated project.

Read the full opinion piece ›


Photo courtesy of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan

"We cannot design just to please our clients anymore" – Yasmeen Lari

Dezeen sat down with Yasmeen Lari for an exclusive interview in April as she accepted the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal award.

Famous for her humanitarian, climate-conscious design, she took the opportunity to issue provocative call-to-action for the architecture profession.

Read the full interview ›


Photo courtesy of the RIBA

"Architecture is a hollowed-out profession with architects seemingly less vital than ever" – Eleanor Jolliffe

Architect and writer Eleanor Jollifee sparked a lively discussion in the comments section underneath this opinion piece reflecting on the current nature of the architecture profession.

She argued that architects have become divorced from the construction and engineering knowledge that was once central to their work.

Read the full opinion piece ›


Photo by Julia Loglisci

"Deconstructivism: bullshit. Postmodernism: bullshit" – Michael Green

Canadian architect Michael Green, known for his work with mass timber, did not hold back when speaking with Dezeen as part of our Timber Revolution series.

He robustly challenged the prevailing perceptions of construction materials, memorably taking aim at major architecture movements of the 20th-century that championed concrete, steel and glass.

Read the full interview ›


Photo courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

"Chipperfield's work on the whole is bland, unimaginative and overly grandiose" – Aaron Betsky

British architect David Chipperfield was named the winner of this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most coveted accolade in the profession.

But academic and Dezeen columnist Aaron Betsky – a man who rarely pulls punches – was not happy with the decision, as he explained in this cutting piece.

Read the full opinion piece ›


Photo by Andreu World

"I have fought all my life against macho products" – Philippe Starck

Philippe Starck is one of the world's most famous designers with a string of iconic furniture and homeware pieces to his name.

In this interview with Dezeen, conducted at the launch of his collection for Spanish brand Andreu World, he had plenty to say about gender and sexuality, claiming that "asexuality will be the biggest revolution".

Read the full interview ›


Image created using DALL-E 2

"It's like we're all stuck in our granddads' idea of the future" – Freyja Sewell

With artificial intelligence dominating the news this summer, Dezeen ran an extensive editorial series exploring the impact of the technology on design, architecture and humanity.

As part of the series, named AItopia, designer Freyja Sewell wrote about the need to challenge the dystopian, cyberpunk-style visions of the future that dominate science fiction as we shape our changing world.

Read the full opinion piece ›


2023 review

This article is part of Dezeen's roundup of the biggest and best news and projects in architecture, design, interior design and technology from 2023.

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