140 Quotes by Zaha Hadid

People often ask me if I consider myself to be an architect, fashion designer, or artist. I’m an architect. The paintings I’ve done are very important to me, but they were part of a process of thinking and developing.

I don’t think that everybody in the planet should have a child. I’ve never had the desire I should have a kid.

I miss aspects of being in the Arab world – the language – and there is a tranquility in these cities with great rivers. Whether it’s Cairo or Baghdad, you sit there and you think, ‘This river has flown here for thousands of years.’ There are magical moments in these places.

I don’t think people should do things because you know, ‘I am turning this age, I must go have a husband.’ If you find somebody and it works out then have kids, it’s very nice. But if you don’t, you don’t.

The paintings have only ever been ways of exploring architecture. I don’t see them as art.

As a woman, you’re not accessible to every world.

It’s very important for cities all around the world to reinvent themselves, and Glasgow is a good example of that. The Scots are very nice. I don’t think they are burdened by their history.

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.

It was such a depressing time. I didn’t look very depressed, maybe, but it was really dire. I made a conscious decision not to stop, but it could have gone the other way.