The next larger context

Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context—a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, environment in a city plan.

Eliel Saarinen, as quoted by his son Eero in The Maturing Modern.

I first encountered this quote in Russell Davies' post on ruricomp. Since then, I keep returning to it again and again. It eloquently captures everything I strive for in my day-to-day work. It's also far to easy for me to forget.