--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We're always taught that we're building…" description: "\"We're always taught that we're building for permanence, but why? I like the idea of a prosthetic architecture! When a section is removed, the building ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/elizabeth-diller-17914_architecture_we-re-always-taught-that-we-re-building_2861672.jpg" --- # We're always taught that we're building for permanence… ![“We're always taught that we're building for permanence, but why? I like the idea of a prosthetic architecture! When a section is removed, the building readjusts its weight distribution, like a living body.” quote by Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/elizabeth-diller-17914_architecture_we-re-always-taught-that-we-re-building_2861672.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/elizabeth-diller-17914_architecture_we-re-always-taught-that-we-re-building_2861672.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/elizabeth-diller-17914_architecture_we-re-always-taught-that-we-re-building_2861672.jpg) > “We're always taught that we're building for permanence, but why? I like the idea of a prosthetic architecture! When a section is removed, the building readjusts its weight distribution, like a living body.” [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Buildings should be designed to adapt and reconfigure like living organisms, allowing parts to be removed without compromising structural integrity. **In simple terms:** Design architecture that can change and heal itself. Key Takeaway Embrace flexible, adaptive design. Themes architecture adaptability biology innovation Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical design When to use this quote - Urban planning - product design - disaster recovery - modular construction Key Concepts Systems thinking biomimicry sustainable design Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance flexibility with stability? - What are the trade‑offs of modular design? A Different Perspective Adaptability may increase complexity and cost, limiting practicality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Architecture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Building Permanence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building-permanence-3865178/) [Building Readjusts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building-readjusts-3865179/) [Engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering/) [Idea Prosthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idea-prosthetic-3865180/) [Living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living/) [Prosthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosthetic/) [Prosthetic Architecture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosthetic-architecture-3865177/) ## Related quotes > [We need to begin thinking about building permanence on the Red Planet, not just have voyagers do some experiments, plant a flag and claim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/we-need-to-begin-thinking-about-building-permanence-on-the-red-planet/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [When I go from a role with heavy prosthetic makeup, which I've done quite a bit of as well, and then do a role…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/when-i-go-from-a-role-with-heavy-prosthetic-makeup-which-i-ve-done/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [When I did 'Kapoor & Sons,' I had a prosthetic look. It would take me six-and-a-half hours daily for 20, 25 days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rishi-kapoor/when-i-did-kapoor-sons-i-had-a-prosthetic-look-it-would-take-me-six/) [Rishi Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rishi-kapoor/) > [Half of Hollywood has more prosthetic in their body than I do, but we don't think of them as disabled. You amputate part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-mullins/half-of-hollywood-has-more-prosthetic-in-their-body-than-i-do-but-we/) [Aimee Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-mullins/) > [In a sense the car has become a prosthetic, and though prosthetics are usually for injured or missing limbs, the auto-prosthetic is for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/in-a-sense-the-car-has-become-a-prosthetic-and-though-prosthetics-are/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“If I went into the prosthetic limb business, I’d charge an arm and a leg.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/if-i-went-into-the-prosthetic-limb-business-i-d-charge-an-arm-and-a/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [You can always tell you're in trouble when the good option involves a prosthetic leg.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-elliot/you-can-always-tell-you-re-in-trouble-when-the-good-option-involves-a/) [Hugh Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-elliot/) > [Of course when you spend four hours in prosthetic makeup and you really are looking at yourself and you see how revolting you've become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-butler/of-course-when-you-spend-four-hours-in-prosthetic-makeup-and-you/) [Gerard Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-butler/) > [I had Halloween parties every year, as it was my birthday five days before. My parents would actually put prosthetic noses on, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/i-had-halloween-parties-every-year-as-it-was-my-birthday-five-days/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [“Use AI to empower life, don't abuse AI to ruin life. AI must orbit humanity, not turn humanity into a lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/use-ai-to-empower-life-don-t-abuse-ai-to-ruin-life-ai-must-orbit/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [It's an interesting but useless bit of information that every single character in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' wears a wig,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/it-s-an-interesting-but-useless-bit-of-information-that-every-single/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [Prosthetic head is better than no head in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tre-cool/prosthetic-head-is-better-than-no-head-in-the-morning/) [Tre Cool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tre-cool/) > [When I was growing up I regularly visited a centre to get new prosthetic legs. If anything, I used to look forward to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-brooker/when-i-was-growing-up-i-regularly-visited-a-centre-to-get-new/) [Alex Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-brooker/) > [The thing with prosthetic feet is you can't have all this crazy motion, or you'd be all over the place - because it's mechanical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-purdy/the-thing-with-prosthetic-feet-is-you-can-t-have-all-this-crazy/) [Amy Purdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-purdy/) > [“AI must orbit humanity, not turn humanity into a lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/ai-must-orbit-humanity-not-turn-humanity-into-a-lie/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Elizabeth Diller > [As a student, I hadn't really been interested in architecture at all, but when I started teaching, it grew into me - rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/as-a-student-i-hadn-t-really-been-interested-in-architecture-at-all/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [Architecture, by definition, is always standing still.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/architecture-by-definition-is-always-standing-still/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [Aside from keeping the rain out and producing some usable space, architecture is nothing but a special-effects machine that delights and disturbs the senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/aside-from-keeping-the-rain-out-and-producing-some-usable-space/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [My interest was always to do interdisciplinary work with space. I thought of architecture as one strand in a multimedia practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/my-interest-was-always-to-do-interdisciplinary-work-with-space-i/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [Each project is torturous and joyful, and it's always an inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/each-project-is-torturous-and-joyful-and-it-s-always-an-inspiration/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [Theatre is real-time - you get that real-time audience reaction, which is fantastic. And with art pieces, people don't ever have to explain themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/theatre-is-real-time-you-get-that-real-time-audience-reaction-which/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [I don't really know what 'starchitect' means. I take it as a pejorative because it means that you're sought-after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/i-don-t-really-know-what-starchitect-means-i-take-it-as-a-pejorative/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [We like to take impossible things and actually make them happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/we-like-to-take-impossible-things-and-actually-make-them-happen/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [We conventionally divide space into private and public realms, and we know these legal distinctions very well because we've become experts at protecting our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/we-conventionally-divide-space-into-private-and-public-realms-and-we/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [Many tools are indispensable for my work, from a utility knife to parametric-modeling software, like Digital Project. But it's important not to confuse the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/many-tools-are-indispensable-for-my-work-from-a-utility-knife-to/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [Being a New Yorker and someone that goes to MoMA as a patron, I want it to be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/being-a-new-yorker-and-someone-that-goes-to-moma-as-a-patron-i-want/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [Architecture has been male-dominated forever, and I am a grateful beneficiary of the women's movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/architecture-has-been-male-dominated-forever-and-i-am-a-grateful/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [My mother and father had been through the Holocaust. The family was wiped out. I grew up never knowing aunts, uncles, or grandparents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/my-mother-and-father-had-been-through-the-holocaust-the-family-was/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [In a progressively privatised city, the defence of public space, the production of new public space, and saving what is public really for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/in-a-progressively-privatised-city-the-defence-of-public-space-the/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) > [As a kid, I imagined being an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-diller/as-a-kid-i-imagined-being-an-artist/) [Elizabeth Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) [Explore all 36 Elizabeth Diller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-diller/) ## 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": "We're always taught that we're building for permanence, but why? I like the idea of a prosthetic architecture! 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