Kevin A. Lynch

"An environment that cannot be changed invites its own destruction."

"There must also be some random accumulations to enable us to discover unexpected relationships. But serendipity is possible only when recollection is essentially a holding fast to what is meaningful and a release of what is not."

"If we examine the feelings that accompany daily life, we find that historic monuments occupy a small place."

"To attempt to preserve all of the past would be life-denying."

"Choosing a past helps us to construct a future."

"We prefer a world that can be modified progressively, against a background of valued remains, a world in which one can leave a personal mark alongside the marks of history."

"Like law and custom, environment tells us how to act without requiring of us a conscious choice. In a church we are reverent and on a beach we are relaxed."

"The remote past is different, since it does not threaten the present."

"...a distinctive and legible environment not only offers security but also heightens the potential depth and intensity of human experience."

"In a complex society, there are may interrelations to be mastered...If an environment has strong visible framework and highly characteristic parts, then exploration of new sectors is both easier and more inviting."

"It is taken for granted that in actual design form should be used to reinforce meaning, and not to negative it."

"“An environment that facilitates recalling and learning is a way of linking the living moment to a wide span of time. Being alive is being awake in the present, secure in our ability to continue but alert to the new things that come streaming by. We feel our own rhythm, and feel also that it is part of the rhythm of the world. It is when local time, local place, and our own selves are secure that we are ready to face challenge, complexity, vast space, and the enormous future.”"