I don't micromanage the interiors. People ask me to and I say no. I don't want to control everything.

Anybody I talk to agrees that maybe 2 percent of the building environment since the war, we could call architecture.

There are people who design buildings that are not technically and financially good, and there are those who do. Two categories - simple.

I refuse to work unless I get paid, so I don't get a lot of work sometimes.

I do my best to choose carefully. If I don’t feel that collaboration is going to happen, I say no. Think about it. These projects can involve a five-to-seven-year partnership. If you don’t feel comfortable with someone, you can’t get rid of them. I just walked away from a job for that reason. Every one of these projects is an emotional investment, like falling in love. You’ve got to believe in it and you’ve got to like the people you work with.

I attended a lecture by a gray-haired old man from Finland, who later I discovered was the architect Alvar Aalto. I was very moved. I wasn't interested in architecture, but it was a moving thing I've never forgotten.

My father probably - he had flashes of creativity - he used to do store windows for fruit stores that he worked in and stuff.