The effort it took to get the stark geometry of West Dean to a state where it really pleases me

In my view there is no doubt that this is the piece of wall where the deep quality and pleasing yourself are. They are successful because of the severity which I imposed on the arrangement. Each small window has a thistle-like shape above the arch to tie it into the brickwork. This special piece had to be drawn, cut, and shaped in brick material. But its function is to connect centers, on either side of the window arch, to connect these to the line of stone and concrete which runs over the panels, and comes in nearly tangent to the curve of the arch. That was quite a trick. It needed hard-edged, disciplined thinking about geometry to make it happen right. Yet it is just this arrangement of centers which finally allows a person to feel related to it. It is all this which is the embodiment of, “What must I do so it truly pleases me?”

That is the kind of work which must be done, every time, if a thing is truly to please — first the maker, and then everyone. It has little to do with sweetness. What it does have to do with is stark arrangement — a geometry which is stark and simple, organized so that it creates this pleasure and relatedness in the beholder.

(Pages 286-291)