As a woman, I'm expected to want everything to be nice and to be nice myself. A very English thing. I don't design nice buildings - I don't like them. I like architecture to have some raw, vital, earthy quality.

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.

There are so many great galleries and museums in London, but they can be very crowded during the day.

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.

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

With products the form is almost the finished piece, but with architecture it is not.

You have to be very focused and work very hard, but it is not about working hard without knowing what your aim is!