Life in the Middle East is quite different from other places.

The goal posts might shift, but you should have a goal.

My father was a politician, and a very important politician, and one of the leaders of the Iraqi Democratic Party, who believed in progress.

I loved London. In the 1970s... it was very exciting, really wild.

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.

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.

People often ask me if I consider myself to be an architect, fashion designer, or artist. I'm an architect. The paintings I've done are very important to me, but they were part of a process of thinking and developing.