Indeed, our designs become more ambitious as we see the new possibilities created by the technology of other industries.

The commission process in America and England is different. In America, they do it through an interview process, and it's really based on whether they like you or not. I mean, it's nothing to do with whether you do the best scheme or the worst scheme.

It's not my duty as an architect to look at it.

The idea for a building or an object can come up just as quick, but there is a big difference in process.

My earliest memory of architecture, I was perhaps 6 or 7 years old, was of my aunt building a house in mosul in the north of iraq. The architect was a close friend of my father's and he used to come to our house with the drawings and models. I remember seeing the model in our living room and I think it triggered something, as I was completely intrigued by it.

I have been interested in fashion since I was a kid. Then I lived in London, where it was more about costume and a personal statement of who you are than about fashion.

You really have to have a goal. The goal posts might shift, but you should have a goal. Know what it is you want to find out.