According to author, Dr. Mardy Grothe, the original quote was:
"We shape our dwellings,
and afterwards our dwellings shape us."
This intriguing observation comes from a speech Churchill made in the House of Commons on October 28, 1944. Churchill made the speech during the rebuilding of the House of Commons, which had sustained heavy bombing damage during the Battle of Britain. A 1960 Time magazine article provided a slightly different version (it's also possible Churchill said it in different ways on separate occasions): "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us." Embedded in the observation is a profound architectural truth that applies to all buildings, public and private. In the beginning, buildings reflect the qualities of the people who design and construct them. Once built, the people who live and work in them take on the qualities of the buildings they inhabit.
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