--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd been to Stourhead and was inspired by…" description: "\"I'd been to Stourhead and was inspired by the perfect parity between architecture and art; in fact, the architecture is the art. I wrote a piece called..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/charles-jencks-18110_architecture_i-d-been-to-stourhead-and-was-inspired-b_1816995.jpg" --- # I'd been to Stourhead and was inspired by the perfect… ![“I'd been to Stourhead and was inspired by the perfect parity between architecture and art; in fact, the architecture is the art. I wrote a piece called 'Not Sculpture Park,' because most of these things become car parks for bought-in sculpture. The artists should be working with the site, not just…” quote by Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/charles-jencks-18110_architecture_i-d-been-to-stourhead-and-was-inspired-b_1816995.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/charles-jencks-18110_architecture_i-d-been-to-stourhead-and-was-inspired-b_1816995.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/charles-jencks-18110_architecture_i-d-been-to-stourhead-and-was-inspired-b_1816995.jpg) > “I'd been to Stourhead and was inspired by the perfect parity between architecture and art; in fact, the architecture is the art. I wrote a piece called 'Not Sculpture Park,' because most of these things become car parks for bought-in sculpture. The artists should be working with the site, not just plonking pieces down.” [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Architecture should integrate with its environment, becoming art itself rather than a backdrop for unrelated installations. **In simple terms:** Design must blend with its setting. Key Takeaway Create works that respond to site context. Themes design environment art integration Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - urban planning - public spaces - gallery installations - landscape design Key Concepts architecture site‑specific art Questions to Reflect On - How can architecture serve both function and artistic expression? - What responsibilities do artists have to their sites? A Different Perspective It may ignore practical constraints of function. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Architecture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture/) [Architecture and art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture-and-art/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Parity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parity/) [Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/park/) [Sculpture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sculpture/) ## Related quotes > [After leaving college, I was in a show called Sculpture by Women where I was asked to talk about my history of victimisation in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-parker/after-leaving-college-i-was-in-a-show-called-sculpture-by-women-where/) [Cornelia Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-parker/) > [I don't necessarily make much art myself, but after I wrote 'Warped Passages,' I was fortunate to get involved a little in the art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-randall/i-don-t-necessarily-make-much-art-myself-but-after-i-wrote-warped/) [Lisa Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-randall/) > [I grew up in a middle-class house without books, without art. No one around me wrote poetry or even read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/i-grew-up-in-a-middle-class-house-without-books-without-art-no-one/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/crime-in-multi-storey-car-parks-that-is-wrong-on-so-many-different/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [ We need to revisit that planning decision because in many cases across our capital \[London\], greenbelt land doesn't deserve the name. Car parks, quarries… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lammy/we-need-to-revisit-that-planning-decision-because-in-many-cases/) [David Lammy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lammy/) > [I remember the first time I drove mum's car. We just went to a car park near my house, and it actually wasn't too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-breen/i-remember-the-first-time-i-drove-mum-s-car-we-just-went-to-a-car/) [Melissa Breen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-breen/) > [A bomb under the West car park at Twickenham on an international day would end fascism in England for a generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-toynbee/a-bomb-under-the-west-car-park-at-twickenham-on-an-international-day/) Philip Toynbee > [“The car fell on top of them. It rolled off the top floor of one of their car parks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-car-fell-on-top-of-them-it-rolled-off-the-top-floor-of-one-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The newly decorated theatres produced things like car parks and restaurants, so you could have a good night out, quite cheaply without all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-west/the-newly-decorated-theatres-produced-things-like-car-parks-and/) [Timothy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-west/) > [And then, once you've written, you meet producers and directors and actors. You get to meet interesting, talented, creative, artistic people, and it also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lawson/and-then-once-you-ve-written-you-meet-producers-and-directors-and/) [Josh Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lawson/) > [The animators are fantastic though. They'll shoot their own reference material, and just go into the car park or something. And they might shoot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-sanders/the-animators-are-fantastic-though-they-ll-shoot-their-own-reference/) Chris Sanders > [All architecture is great architecture after sunset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/all-architecture-is-great-architecture-after-sunset/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [It is therefore indisputable that the limbs of architecture are derived from the limbs of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/it-is-therefore-indisputable-that-the-limbs-of-architecture-are/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [Architecture is to make us know and remember who we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-jellicoe/architecture-is-to-make-us-know-and-remember-who-we-are/) Geoffrey Jellicoe > [Ah, to build, to build! That is the noblest of all the arts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/ah-to-build-to-build-that-is-the-noblest-of-all-the-arts/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## More by Charles Jencks > [If you can't take the kitsch, get out of the kitchen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/if-you-can-t-take-the-kitsch-get-out-of-the-kitchen/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [Like our attitude to love, truth and goodness, we seem to be confident about knowing what beauty is - certain, even dogmatic - until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/like-our-attitude-to-love-truth-and-goodness-we-seem-to-be-confident/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [If you look at any leaf on any tree branch, it's similar to but not exactly a repetition of the previous branch. So the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/if-you-look-at-any-leaf-on-any-tree-branch-it-s-similar-to-but-not/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [I do believe architecture, and all art, should be content-driven. It should have something to say beyond the sensational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/i-do-believe-architecture-and-all-art-should-be-content-driven-it/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [You have to believe in a placebo or it won't work, but if it works, it's obviously working in some indirect way, through feedback…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/you-have-to-believe-in-a-placebo-or-it-won-t-work-but-if-it-works-it/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [Cant you see, we are in a dialogue with the universe?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/cant-you-see-we-are-in-a-dialogue-with-the-universe/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [What is a garden if not a miniaturization and celebration, of the place we are in, the universe?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/what-is-a-garden-if-not-a-miniaturization-and-celebration-of-the/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [Beautiful people are always with us, as evolutionary psychologists and a trip to the news-stand confirm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/beautiful-people-are-always-with-us-as-evolutionary-psychologists-and/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [The cell is a city of production centres, each part working away like mad, and it's co-ordinated. Six trillion cells in a body -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/the-cell-is-a-city-of-production-centres-each-part-working-away-like/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [“There is an unalterable and widening gap between exterior and interior, symbol and content, form and function -a gap which is making the environment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/there-is-an-unalterable-and-widening-gap-between-exterior-and/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [The singular point of beautiful objects, and people, is that they are experienced not as parts, or ratios between cheekbones and chin, but as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/the-singular-point-of-beautiful-objects-and-people-is-that-they-are/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [What is the most interesting thing to people? Other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/what-is-the-most-interesting-thing-to-people-other-people/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [A sign to me is a one-liner, a symbol is very complex and my house is a series of symbols.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/a-sign-to-me-is-a-one-liner-a-symbol-is-very-complex-and-my-house-is/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [“Whereas art critics are ready to accept-indeed are looking for-the new fabrication of a consistent visual language, architectural critics, like the general public, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/whereas-art-critics-are-ready-to-accept-indeed-are-looking-for-the/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) > [“A recurrent theme of this book is that architects, fairly low in the chain of command and needing jobs, are prone to compromise with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-jencks/a-recurrent-theme-of-this-book-is-that-architects-fairly-low-in-the/) [Charles Jencks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) [Explore all 35 Charles Jencks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-jencks/) ## More Architecture quotes > [The bones of my architecture are very much related to the structure, to the physical fact of how a building can stand up; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-bones-of-my-architecture-are-very-much-related-to-the-structure/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [The Parthenon is really only a farmyard over which someone put a roof; colonades and sculptures were added because there were people in Athens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-parthenon-is-really-only-a-farmyard-over-which-someone-put-a-roof/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-just-think-structure-can-make-a-book-feel-so-much-bigger-it-s-the/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [When I am asked what I believe in, I say that I believe in architecture. Architecture is the mother of the arts. I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-meier/when-i-am-asked-what-i-believe-in-i-say-that-i-believe-in/) [Richard Meier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-meier/) > [Some architects have a preconceived notion of what a building should be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-w-fentress/some-architects-have-a-preconceived-notion-of-what-a-building-should/) [Curtis W. Fentress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-w-fentress/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [London, from the architecture to the culture to the fashion to the accents, feels like it's a special place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-eazy/london-from-the-architecture-to-the-culture-to-the-fashion-to-the/) [G-Eazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-eazy/) > [A wiki works best where you're trying to answer a question that you can't easily pose, where there's not a natural structure that's known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ward-cunningham/a-wiki-works-best-where-you-re-trying-to-answer-a-question-that-you/) [Ward Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ward-cunningham/) > [Architecture is not a profession for the faint-hearted, the weak-willed, or the short-lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/architecture-is-not-a-profession-for-the-faint-hearted-the-weak/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [As a result of reading science fiction when I was eight, I grew up with an interest in music, architecture, city planning, transportation, politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/as-a-result-of-reading-science-fiction-when-i-was-eight-i-grew-up/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Winning a competition in architecture is a ticket to oblivion. It's just an idea. Ninety-nine per cent never get built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-libeskind/winning-a-competition-in-architecture-is-a-ticket-to-oblivion-it-s/) [Daniel Libeskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-libeskind/) > [It's not so much about form versus functionality. Rather, it's about doing both and doing them a lot and doing them well-and that's how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-prince-ramus/it-s-not-so-much-about-form-versus-functionality-rather-it-s-about/) [Joshua Prince-Ramus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-prince-ramus/) > [Engineering, medicine, business, architecture and painting are concerned not with the necessary but with the contingent - not with how things are but with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-simon/engineering-medicine-business-architecture-and-painting-are-concerned/) [Herbert Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-simon/) [Browse all 3,013 Architecture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'd been to Stourhead and was inspired by the perfect parity between architecture and art; in fact, the architecture is the art. 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