When style is forced to become a trademark, a signature, a personal characteristic, then it also becomes a cage. The effort to be recognisable at any cost, to put your hallmark on things, kills the architect and his or her freedom to develop. The mark of recognition lies in the acceptance of the challenge. And then, yes, it does become identifiable: but by a method, not by a trademark. Perhaps my style lies in the way I interpret architecture: the sort of challenge represented by responding in a straightforward and different way to needs and expectations that are themselves always different. There is always a temptation for a young architect to start out with style. But I started with doing: with the building site, with research into materials, with the knowledge of construction techniques, conventional and otherwise. My journey through architecture started out from technique and has gradually led me to an awareness of its complexity as space, expression and form.
Logbook, Renzo Piano