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

I am equally proud of all of my architectural projects. It's always rewarding to see an ambitious design become reality.

I don't think I am that tough, actually. Well, tough in the sense that I don't take any rubbish, and that doesn't make me very popular, frankly. I mean, because some people say something to me, and I just tell them off. I mean, why should I put up with it?

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.

If I wanted to do clothes or if I wanted to make a building or design a choreography, you are able to do that - they are all under a similar kind of design umbrella.

I can't focus when there's too many things around. Whenever I used to go to the office, I used to always say, 'Tidy up.'