‘Architecture remains abstract and lives only in one’s head until such time as things are physically evident’

So says Annabelle Selldorf of this month’s limited-edition cover. Her black-and-white cover image was taken at 542 West 22nd Street during the final stages of construction, when everything was coming into place, bringing to end a long process of thinking and planning. The white element in the foreground is the cupola for the building’s main stair volume, temporarily placed within the top-floor exhibition space. ‘This was one moment that I could enjoy this object as a three-dimensional item – before being installed and thereafter being an integral element of another space,’ recalls the architect. ‘There it was – a small object placed out of its intended context and bathed in this powerful light. It bespeaks process and the secret life of things.’ Shot on iphone, the image reflects Selldorf ’s personal relationship with photography. She takes photos in lieu of keeping a diary, building them into ‘a kind of visual notebook of things that trigger ideas, or a record of things I see and want to remind myself of.’ TF Chan Limited-edition covers are available to subscribers, see Wallpaper.com