In Iraq, many of my female friends were architects and professionals with a lot of power during the 1980s while all the men were at war in Iran.

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

I don't think that architecture is only about shelter, is only about a very simple enclosure. It should be able to excite you, to calm you, to make you think.

I love driving around east London - it's always full of surprises. Actually, I don't drive myself - I like to be driven.

I think about architecture all the time. That's the problem. But I've always been like that. I dream it sometimes.

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

You don't always have to show art in what's called a white box; you can have a kind of complexity within an exhibit which actually respects the art as well.