Inside AD’s May 2024 Issue: A Global Tour of the Best in Design

Armchair travelers, rejoice: AD took a jaunt around the world for our May International issue, and the pictures are worth a thousand words. If you, too, are working on “everywhere,” consider this a little shortcut. The richly individual residences and projects shown this month are so powerfully evocative that you might feel you have journeyed to Ibiza, Costa Rica, Lagos, the French countryside, Mexico, and even Los Angeles just by turning the pages. Add the passionate language each homeowner uses to describe the singular lure of their chosen locale, and the picture is complete.

Designer Eric Schmitt on horseback in France.

Photo: Adrien Dirand

Emma Roberts at home in L.A.

Photo: Michael P.H. Clifford

Acclaimed artist Yinka Shonibare, who is based in London, returned to his hometown in Nigeria to build a spectacular artist’s residence that doubles as his own base when in Lagos. “I realized there was a need here; young artists needed to be mentored,” says Shonibare. “We could build 10 of these, and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

The Eco Park in Bacalar, Mexico, by Colectivo C733.

Photo: Rafael Gamo

When a New York City family decamped to Costa Rica, in 2020, they hired recently launched LA design studio Years and local architecture firm Garnier Arquitectos to craft a dream house that could withstand the seven-month rainy season. “We wanted to learn how to live in harmony with nature, so we decided that we were going to be okay with the ants and the power outages and all the rest,” says owner Reshma Patel, adding, “You can try to keep it at bay, but the jungle always finds a way in.”

Homeowner Reshma Patel in Nosara, Costa Rica.

Photo: Sam Frost. Art: Lou Castillo.

Artist Yinka Shonibare in Lagos, Nigeria.

Photo: Yagazie Emezi

Roberts with me in NYC.

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Writer Fred Bernstein profiles the dazzling Colectivo C733, a group of five Mexican architects designing brilliant public spaces in their own country. Their eco park in Bacalar hovers a boardwalk over a fragile lagoon and reef to stunning, artistic effect, proving that “good architecture does not need a building,” as one partner says.

As for our cover star, actor Emma Roberts, she calls her LA nest “my very own grown-up dollhouse,” and adds that when she and her young son moved in, “I just remember feeling like we are exactly where we need to be.” Sometimes everywhere is just one perfect somewhere.

Amy Astley’s letter appears in AD’s May 2024 issue. Never miss an issue when you subscribe to AD.