Interview David Chipperfield: It is better to be fond of architecture than amazed by it

For a man who’s about to celebrate his 60th birthday, Sir David Chipperfield looks remarkably fresh-faced. His pale blue eyes are bright and piercing, his thick white hair is cut in a fashionable short crop. Clad in a dark polo neck, he looks almost boyish. This youthful vitality is reflected in his work. At an age when most of us tend to start slowing down, he’s busier than ever. His offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai employ more than 200 people. His current projects range from Paris to St Louis.

I meet him in his groovy high-rise office overlooking Waterloo Station. He’s just flown in from Mexico City, where he’s built yet another new museum. Married with four children, he lives in a large apartment near Regent’s Park, but he’s also built himself houses in Berlin and Galicia. A lot of his best work has been abroad. Though he’s held in high esteem in Britain (a knighthood, a RIBA Gold Medal…), he’s far more famous in Germany, where his audacious rebuild of Berlin’s Neues Museum was front-page news.