It was such a depressing time. I didn't look very depressed, maybe, but it was really dire. I made a conscious decision not to stop, but it could have gone the other way.

Some people really live and work within the same doctrine, the same diagram with the same logic.

I have always appreciated those who dare to experiment with materials and proportions.

I am quite sensitive to politics, because you know, as an Arab, an Iraqi, all your life, you are very conscious of it.

All the privileged can travel, see different worlds, not everyone can. I think it is important for people to have an interesting locale nearby.

Of course I believe imaginative architecture can make a difference to people's lives, but I wish it was possible to divert some of the effort we put into ambitious museums and galleries into the basic architectural building blocks of society.

I like music. Country, hip-hop, R&B, sometimes classical.