Chennai + architect Chitra Vishwanath

With a portfolio ranging from installations to masterplans, architect Chitra Vishwanath and her practice Biome Environmental Solutions focus on designing spaces that are simple yet functional and conscious of the site’s ecology via abundant daylight, natural ventilation, local materials and water conservation.

Tehran + architect Kamran Diba

Tehran is a busy metropolis with densely packed housing and small galleries, parks, cafes and restaurants in the pockets of every main street. A stroll around Tajrish or Valiasr neighbourhood, and you might come across a cafe run by a few philosophy students, filled with books you have yet to hear of, piled on top of each other from
floor to ceiling.

Matsuyama + architect Hiroshi Sambuichi

Matsuyama, on Shikoku Island, is known as the City of Haiku, with heritage architecture associated with notable haiku poets.

Siedmiorogow Drugi + architect Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak

Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak’s earlier housing project, Maisonette Apartments, built in 1960, was a modernist undertaking and the first in Poland to have apartments spanning across two levels.

Hargeisa + architect Rashid Ali

I have recently come across the work of Rashid Ali, a London-based architect who has ancestral roots in Hargeisa. Knowing the struggles Somalia has had over the last three decades, I am inspired by architects like Rashid Ali who are willing to go back and rebuild Somalia.

Saigon + architect A21studio

A21studio is a small architectural practice in Saigon. Their work challenges the typical urban residence which is often detached from the Vietnamese lifestyle and climate.

Valparaiso + architect Cazu Zegers

Composed of forty-four hills and a flat area oriented to the bay, the busy and sometimes worn-down working port of Valparaiso, Chile, is a natural amphitheatre with an urban fabric that clings to steep cliffs and dramatic hills.

Guangzhou + architect Atelier Deshaus

Guangzhou, my hometown and where my grandparents live, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. It is a bustling city with commercial developments yet filled with hidden gems that retain a traditional heartland.