My Father Was A Politician, And A

Being Iraqi Taught Me To Be Very Cautious.

My Earliest Memory Of Architecture, I Was Perhaps 6 Or 7 Years Old, Was Of My Aunt Building A House In Mosul In The North Of Iraq. The Architect Was A Close Friend Of My Father's And He Used To Come To Our House With The Drawings And Models. I Remember Seeing The Model In Our Living Room And I Think It Triggered Something, As I Was Completely Intrigued By It.

I've Always Been Interested In Combining Architecture With A Social Agenda, And I Really Think You Can Invest And Be Inventive With Hospitals And Housing.

I Am Quite Sensitive To Politics, Because You Know, As An Arab, An Iraqi, All Your Life, You Are Very Conscious Of It.

My Work First Engaged With The Early Russian Avant-garde; The Paintings Of Moholy-nagy, El Lissitzky's 'prouns' And Naum Gabo's Sculptures, But In Particular With The Work Of Kasimir Malevitch - He Was An Early Influence For Me As A Representative Of The Modern Avant-garde Intersection Between Art And Design.