FLUID SHAPES, UNUSUAL MATERIALS AND COMBINATIONS OF MATERIALS, A COLOUR PALETTE THAT RANGES FROM RESTRAINED TO GAUDY – IT’S NOT EASY TO CATEGORISE THE STYLE OF CHRISTINA PETROU, A CYPRIOT ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER. EVEN SHE HERSELF FALTERS AT THE QUESTION. BUT THAT DOESN’T SEEM TO DETRACT FROM HER SUCCESS. WITH HER DESIGN STUDIO CHRISTINE KALIA, SHE CREATES FURNITURE, RENOVATES HOUSES AND RECENTLY FITTED OUT THE CHLOÉ STORES.

A design “grandmaster” was chosen by the Persian Gulf emirate to create an institution that celebrates its cultural heritage and landscape: the National Museum of Qatar in Doha. For this project, Pritzker prize-winner Jean Nouvel produced an avant-garde building inspired by the desert rose, an ornate formation of crystal clusters with overlapping discs primarily found in dry desert regions. And architect Koichi Takada continued this analogy with nature for the interior design of the gift shop.