Architecture is like writing. You have to edit it over and over so it looks effortless

Would they call me a diva if I were a guy?

Good education is so important. We do need to look at the way people are taught. It not just about qualifications to get a job. It's about being educated.

The conservative values that are emerging, it may not effect architecture immediately but it will effect society and that's what worries me.

Contrary to popular view, I've never been patronized in the Middle East. Men maybe treat women differently, but they do not treat them with disrespect. They don't hate women. It's a very different kind of mentality.

As a woman you're not accessible to every world.

The spirit of adventure to embrace the new and the incredible belief in the power of invention attracted me to the Russian avant-garde.