26 | Architecture & Design
BEYOND
BUILDINGS
WHY ARCHITECT KATJA ABELA IS EXPANDING
THE CONVERSATION AROUND DESIGN
K a t j a A b e l a , a n a r c h i t e c t , e x p a n d s h e r p r a c t i c e i n t o a c o n c e p t s t o r e e x p l o r i n g h o w
f u r n i t u r e , m a t e r i a l s , a n d o b j e c t s s h a p e l i v e d e x p e r i e n c e , s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n , a n d
s p a t i a l a t m o s p h e r e b e y o n d b u i l d i n g s t h r o u g h A t e l i e r M a i s o n ' s e v o l v i n g d e s i g n
p h i l o s o p h y .
F
or architect Katja Abela, architecture has never
been solely about buildings. While the discipline
is often associated with the creation of physical
structures, her work has increasingly been shaped
by a question that emerges after the architecture is
complete: what actually determines the way a space is
experienced?
It is a question that has led her beyond the traditional
boundaries of architectural practice and towards
the launch of a new concept store, conceived as an
extension of the ideas she has long explored through her
studio, Atelier Maison.
The move is not a departure from architecture but
rather an expansion of it. Through the concept store,
P h o t o g r a p h y : A l e x a n d r a P a c e
P o r t r a i t : O l g a S a m m u t
