One of my greatest influences is the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

My father probably - he had flashes of creativity - he used to do store windows for fruit stores that he worked in and stuff.

You have freedom, so you have to make choices - and at the point when I make a choice, the building starts to look like a Frank Gehry building. It's a signature.

The best advice I've received is to be yourself. The best artists do that.

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.

When I was a kid, my father didn't really have much hope for me. He thought I was a dreamer; he didn't think I would amount to anything. My mother also.