--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Buildings are always better than drawings…" description: "\"Buildings are always better than drawings and models.\" — Rafael Moneo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/rafael-moneo-61482_always_buildings-are-always-better-than-drawing_1953645.jpg" --- # Buildings are always better than drawings and models. ![“Buildings are always better than drawings and models.” quote by Rafael Moneo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/rafael-moneo-61482_always_buildings-are-always-better-than-drawing_1953645.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/rafael-moneo-61482_always_buildings-are-always-better-than-drawing_1953645.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/rafael-moneo-61482_always_buildings-are-always-better-than-drawing_1953645.jpg) > “Buildings are always better than drawings and models.” [Rafael Moneo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-moneo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Physical structures convey experience and context that two‑dimensional representations cannot fully capture. **In simple terms:** Buildings convey what drawings cannot. Key Takeaway Prioritize built prototypes over sketches. Themes architecture experience materiality Mood reflective analytical Type observational critical When to use this quote - construction projects - urban planning - design reviews - client presentations Key Concepts embodiment spatial perception tactility Questions to Reflect On - How does a building change your perception of space? - When is a model sufficient? A Different Perspective Models still aid communication and cost estimation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Always](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) [Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better/) [Better Drawings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-drawings-3185547/) [Building](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building/) [Buildings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buildings/) [Buildings Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buildings-better-3185546/) [Drawing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawing/) [Drawings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawings/) [Drawings Models](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawings-models-3185548/) [Engineering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engineering/) [Models](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/models/) [Than](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/than/) ## Related quotes > [I really wanted to be a cartoonist, and I was in 4th or 5th grade and I would bring my drawings in, and I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-stine/i-really-wanted-to-be-a-cartoonist-and-i-was-in-4th-or-5th-grade-and/) [R. L. Stine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-stine/) > [“Don't we all discover, at some stage or another that there are some things we'll never get any better at, even though we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-christophe-valtat/don-t-we-all-discover-at-some-stage-or-another-that-there-are-some/) [Jean-Christophe Valtat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-christophe-valtat/) > [What do drawings mean to me? I really don't know. The activity absorbs me. I forget everything else in a way that I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/what-do-drawings-mean-to-me-i-really-don-t-know-the-activity-absorbs/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Every artist returns to things. The drawings that you make as a child or as an adolescent and the ideas that you have as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-de-kooning/every-artist-returns-to-things-the-drawings-that-you-make-as-a-child/) [Elaine de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-de-kooning/) > [My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/my-drawings-inspire-and-are-not-to-be-defined-they-place-us-as-does/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [If you don't use an image now you might have a place to put it in further down the line - and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-pettibon/if-you-don-t-use-an-image-now-you-might-have-a-place-to-put-it-in/) [Raymond Pettibon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-pettibon/) > [The drawings don't start with 'a beautiful mark'. It has to be a mark of something out there in the world. It doesn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kentridge/the-drawings-don-t-start-with-a-beautiful-mark-it-has-to-be-a-mark-of/) [William Kentridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kentridge/) > [Where as in animation you have to kind of do a series of drawings in between to complete the movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-scarfe/where-as-in-animation-you-have-to-kind-of-do-a-series-of-drawings-in/) [Gerald Scarfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-scarfe/) > [I rarely draw myself, in general, and if I do, I tend to do little cute manga-esque, almost bite-sized drawings of myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-lee/i-rarely-draw-myself-in-general-and-if-i-do-i-tend-to-do-little-cute/) [Jim Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-lee/) > [My drawings at first were made altogether in watercolors, but they wanted softness and a great deal of finish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/my-drawings-at-first-were-made-altogether-in-watercolors-but-they/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [I'm just a guy drawing comics. Guys knocking other guys through buildings. Guys flipping tanks over on each other. I'm just trying to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-liefeld/i-m-just-a-guy-drawing-comics-guys-knocking-other-guys-through/) [Rob Liefeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-liefeld/) > [In middle school, I started to draw, and my pencil sketches were huge. They were these 4ft by 3ft drawings, and I got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-kinney/in-middle-school-i-started-to-draw-and-my-pencil-sketches-were-huge/) [Jeff Kinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-kinney/) > [“The stranger drew the curtains round the bed, took up the light, and inspected the apartment. The walls of both rooms were hung with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton/the-stranger-drew-the-curtains-round-the-bed-took-up-the-light-and/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [“His drawings were not originals then, only copies. He must have been doing them as a sort of retirement hobby, he was an incurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/his-drawings-were-not-originals-then-only-copies-he-must-have-been/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More by Rafael Moneo > [At the Museum of Roman Art, the logic of the forms is very much modern. But in spite of that, the idea of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-moneo/at-the-museum-of-roman-art-the-logic-of-the-forms-is-very-much-modern/) [Rafael Moneo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-moneo/) > [I would say that to put architecture in the chain of history, to be able to interpret and understand why we are where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-moneo/i-would-say-that-to-put-architecture-in-the-chain-of-history-to-be/) [Rafael Moneo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-moneo/) > [I don't have regrets of being an architect. 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He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) [Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Buildings are always better than drawings and models.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rafael Moneo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-moneo/buildings-are-always-better-than-drawings-and-models/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Always" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-moneo/buildings-are-always-better-than-drawings-and-models/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/rafael-moneo-61482_always_buildings-are-always-better-than-drawing_1953645.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/rafael-moneo-61482_always_buildings-are-always-better-than-drawing_1953645.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/rafael-moneo-61482_always_buildings-are-always-better-than-drawing_1953645.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Buildings are always better than drawings and models.” — Rafael Moneo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rafael Moneo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-moneo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Buildings are always better than drawings...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-moneo/buildings-are-always-better-than-drawings-and-models/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-moneo/buildings-are-always-better-than-drawings-and-models/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```