I was always unusual-looking; I wouldn't say beautiful.

I will always have two regrets. I don't have a presence in London, and I would have liked to have done more work in the Middle East.

I will never give myself the luxury of thinking, 'I've made it.'

I'm a pushover. I make allowances for people if I like them.

I'm into fashion because it contains the mood of the day, of the moment - like music, literature, and art.

In hospital, people should be able to have time to themselves.

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.

It's very important that historic cities are allowed to reinvent their future.

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

Like men, women have to be diligent and work hard.

Men think a woman should not have an opinion.

My buildings are not particularly expensive. It is not a tin shed. If you want a tinny car, you pay for that.

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

My father was a socialist, so he would have thought that I shouldn't be a dame.

My friendships are very important to me.

Obviously for some people there is a big connection between music and the way you can create a space.

People don't talk to you properly. It's the way they talk to you; they dismiss you. I think it's a combination of me being a woman and a foreigner.

People in power, they're so used to people kind of playing up to them.

People say I design architectural icons. If I design a building and it becomes an icon, that's ok.

The funkiest housing in Holland is for low-income, and I think that's very nice.