So I think one reason why [I love being an architect] – leaving aside other obvious reasons[*] – is to do with this see-saw balancing act; when the fragile beauty of [my ideas] can be denied so effortlessly by the combination of chance, improvisation, circumstance and irrational passion. It’s the call-and-response tension between these forces that makes [my job] so thrilling.

[Hacking] Dan Hill. Go and read his excellent article, Design. Architecture. Football. to get the original version.

* money, fame, girls, black roll-neck jumpers etc.