The rendered worlds of self-taught South African artist Alexis Christodoulou are excavations. They are as much of modern architecture as of their influences, from films and photographs to the tones of Aldo Rossi’s drawings. alexiscstudio.com ■

What were the clients’ main requests? Edward Yedid (EY): We learned how important art and design are to them, and their preferences in terms of palette. They wanted their home to feel calm. When we met, the husband was dressed from head to toe in sof

Trust is design’s great intangible. Once it is implicit, the project has the best possible chance of ending up beyond the client’s wildest dreams. It also ensures that the process is a joy every step of the way. With this Brazil-based couple, trust e

When Nick and Clare McIntosh and their two primary-school-aged children moved in to their new home in the Auckland neighbourhood of Grey Lynn, they already knew the house. “We had lived [two doors down],” says Clare. They also knew what changes they

When Moisés Micha came across an abandoned four-storeyed townhouse in Mexico City’s affluent Chapultepec district, he purchased it without a second thought. The 1970s’ brutalist building may be startlingly oversized for a bachelor pad, but the co-fou

Your ordinary brick is a ubiquitous building material that’s been used in architecture since ancient times: functional, cost-effective, commonplace. However, the architectural and spatial effects created with brick can be anything but ordinary. Austr

Sand is fickle; it moves, adjusts. A house is more constant; there’s a groundedness to its bearing. How these two work together is not an art so much as a balance between opposites and elements. In Tairua, hugging a dune reserve on the Coromandel, Ga

Moving cities or starting a business: these are two pretty major events in anyone’s life. But how about doing both in very close succession? Such was the case for Gabriel Hendifar and Jeremy Anderson, who co-founded New York City-based design studio

There aren’t too many prominent art-world figures from either Australia or New Zealand with the type of credibility that Sally Dan-Cuthbert has. The independent Sydney-based art advisor has been working with a handful of private and corporate clients

Courtney Johnston wouldn’t call her career rise meteoric, even if everyone else does. The 40-year-old took the reins of Te Papa Tongarewa last December, the youngest-ever chief executive of New Zealand’s national museum. But Johnston has spent much o

Imagine: you pick up your paintbrush one day, perhaps out of boredom, and make a few small works, each no bigger than an A4 sheet of paper. You have a full-time job so this is just for fun – something to make your creative juices flow. But, then, one

BMW’s in-house tuner is in overdrive, applying full-on M magic to a host of new models. At the heart of the action is the X3 M Competition, the practical and nicely proportioned mid-sized SUV transformed into an authentic M-division flyer. It’s partn

If The Scrap Yard had its own aphorism, it would be that rebirth is a commonly rewarding business. Its born-again story began in 2018 when it was still a demolition and salvage yard on Grey Lynn’s unassuming Westmoreland Street. In that year, it was

The Phase One IQ4 stills camera has more pixels than does any consumer model by far: 150 megapixels, to be precise. In addition to chomping through the memory cards, this camera delivers a stunning medium-format image and includes a standard 80mm len

Dan Brunn has taken the idea of home entertaining to the next level. While it’s common to see a project description include the various suppliers involved – a kitchen by X, bathrooms by Y and, perhaps, flooring by Z – the Tel Aviv native’s Los Angele

Editor, author and strategist Cliff Kuang will be in New Zealand for the Auckland Writers Festival (see facing page). Here, he explores the books currently on his shelves. For a full reading list, visit urbismagazine.com John Jeremiah Sullivan, 2011

Gestalten, approx. $150 Too much, even as the vaguest of quantities, seems as if it does not exist in this book. Yet there is something measured, even precise, in the interiors it contains. From a library with a gold-leaf ceiling to an apartment with

24 March–11 April / Wellington Thom Monckton’s The Artist, a solo-physical comedy on the obstacles of creativity and the chaos that ensues for Monckton’s painter-character, is coming to Circa Theatre. circa.co.nz 25 March–2 May / Various locations Ov

The Laurent collection, a sleek variety of suspended opaline globes by Montreal-based Lambert & Fils, calls upon delicate-looking support systems. Here, thin, polished brass and parallel wires work together like sculptural cogs to keep five glassy fo

New Zealand-born Dean Cornish is a director, producer and writer based in Los Angeles. When not working in exotic destinations, he can be found tinkering with gadgets, taking photographs or roaming the Hollywood Hills with his small, scruffy dog. Wha

Extended photographic coverage of the stories in this magazine gives you more interiors, architecture, people, art and beyond! Browse Urbis magazine on your tablet or smartphone; it’s available on the Zinio app. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook fo

Many of the conversations we have with architects and designers often lead to discussions about influences and inspirations that, most of the time, have little to do with the world of design itself. Visual arts, music, dance, literature and the like

Melanie is the founder of Sloane & Peach. Alongside managing her cross-disciplinary firm, Melanie writes for leading industry publications and advocates on flexible working. For this issue, she wrote about the year 2020 (page 34). What were the chall

This subaquatic-inspired installation at Design Miami by Parisian gallery Scene Ouverte is composed of only two pieces (Bubble armchair and Coral light sculpture by Léa Mestres and William Coggin), yet it manages to create a delightful, fresh mood, w

12 December / Auckland Indulge your olfactory senses with this natural fragrance class in Ponsonby. Make your own scent from Perfume Playground’s fragrance bar, smell more than 50 notes at its scent lab and learn about flower essences, essential oils