He spots me before I see him, and his impish grin suggests he's pleased  at winning a game of one-upmanship. Thus Daniel Libeskind, the world's  best-known architect, reveals a glimpse of the competitive streak that  has helped propel him to the forefront of one of the toughest professions. At barely 5ft 4in, he cuts a stylish, if diminutive, figure in the  ensemble of the international creative artist: black jacket, black  crew-neck, black trousers, black snakeskin boots, black spectacles and  cropped grey hair.

He may look like an Italian fashion designer, but his accent roots him  in both eastern Europe and the Bronx. It's a beguiling mix of  identities, and he wears them like a badge. "Architects do tend to have  big egos, probably because creating a new building is such a powerful  thing," he concedes. "That said, I don't think my ego is so big, but I  do think you have to have personality and passion. After all,  architecture is the only profession in the world which is totally  dependent on other people."

Considering he was a late starter – he spent the early part of his  career teaching architecture but his first building, the spectacular  Jewish Museum in Berlin, began construction only six years ago when he  was 52 – Libeskind has snapped up some lofty job descriptions. He is  master planner for the restoration of Ground Zero, site of the former  World Trade Centre in New York. He is master planner for the  redevelopment of Milan's historic Fairgrounds, and will build that  ancient country's first skyscrapers. And he has just been appointed the  US's first world ambassador in architecture.

He is working in Milan with Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi architect recently  commissioned to design Glasgow's new transport museum. Although  Libeskind designed the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, and has  submitted designs for the V&A Spiral extension in London, he has yet to  work in Scotland. Would he like to? "I would love to work in Scotland,  in either Glasgow or Edinburgh," he says. Does he like the Scottish  Parliament building at Holyrood? He pulls a face. "I've seen it and it's  a very nice building." But? "You know, to build something that costs  half a billion pounds does not require a conjuring trick. It should  result in something that is inspiring and challenging. It seems to me  that it hasn't necessarily lifted our spirits. I would like to have done  the Scottish Parliament building myself."