Being Iraqi taught me to be very cautious.

I am sure that as a woman I can do a very good skyscraper.

There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?

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.

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

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

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.