17 APRIL 1959, Page 7

WHAT DID the great man say? Too much to remember,

and too fast to write it down. But some of it sticks in the memory. 'Literature tells about man, but architecture presents him. What you get is the man, in spite of him, whatever he thinks he is giving you. You can see if he is phoney' Here are some more fragments from the master. Of critics: 'Experience is something critics do not have. They neither teach nor build. One of the most unfortunate visitations is to be a critic.' Of great men : 'If I like people's work I don't like them, and vice versa.' Of America : 'Architecture in America has been driven up a one-way street to a dead end. It was driven there by the Museum of Modern Art, the Bauhaus and the cliques they have formed. Today publicity gives architecture its job.' Of education : 'We want culture today, not education. Culture is inevitable or else comes death. You can't educate an architect. In America our education is not on speaking terms with cul- ture.' Of Saarinen's American Embassy building in Grosvenor Square: 'If that is London, God help London.' Of the atom : 'America can now see the atom. So what? If only she could see William Blake.' To the reader of his quips Lloyd Wright sounded an arrogant man. To the hearer he was a great public entertainer, enjoying him- self, meaning half he said and saying the rest with a smile. 'Unfortunately,' in his own words, `the smile has never got into print.'