Antimaterialism in the nature of architecture

It must go beyond human needs and give men more than the mere taste of future things. Men are the greatest and most powerful creators or transformers of ecology: the universe in human nature- this is the aim, much more than human invention in the nature of materials. Technology put at the same level of materialism will be an endless source of frustration and become the biggest obstacle to the humanization of mankind. In terms of ecology, the antimaterialistic nature of architecture is the determining factor in a consistent and inspiring urban scheme. The basic meaning isn't the value or the subtleness or the ability to invent; it's creativity.

- Paolo Soleri, 1963 in Soleri: Architecture as human ecology, p 110. 2000, Antonietta Iolanda Lima