THE MODERN HOUSE
ARCHITECT SOPHIE HICKS ON LIFE IN HER HIDDEN CONCRETE HAVEN IN KENSINGTON
by The Modern House
Summer 2023
PIN-UP INTERVIEWS, VOL. 1
SOPHIE HICKS
Words by Emily King. First published in 2013, reissued November 2025
With her boyishly short hair and smart men’s clothes, Sophie Hicks is widely known for her sharp personal style. She developed her fashion skills during the nine years she worked as a stylist, first as a teenager for Harpers & Queen, then at Vogue, and afterwards for Azzedine Alaïa. it wasn’t until her mid-20s — with a little indirect help from madonna — that she discovered her true calling: architecture. after a degree from London’s Architectural Association, she went on to design office space, exhibitions, private residences, and shops — for Paul Smith and Chloé, among others.
Her Parisian flagship store for Yohji Yamamoto is a miraculous exercise in crafted wood and folded paper. Hicks’s style is subtle, quiet, detail-oriented, and elegant. her spaces are never flashy, but always smart, and often witty. meeting her in her long, lean mews house home-cum-studio in Notting Hill — which she shares with her boyfriend, children, and pets — I found myself impressed by her poise, determination, and sharp intelligence. But the true focus of my envy was her indoor swimming pool.
The reissue of the book can be now be purchased directly from PIN-UP magazine >>
Featuring interviews with David Adjaye, Daniel Arsham, Shigeru Ban, Barry Bergdoll, Ben van Berkel, Ricardo Bofill, Santiago Calatrava, Rafael de Cárdenas, David Chipperfield, Claude Dalle, Odile Decq, Delfina Delettrez, Fredrikson Stallard, Simon Fujiwara, Cyprien Gaillard, Martino Gamper, Jeanne Gang, Zaha Hadid, Pierre Hardy, Jacques Herzog, Sophie Hicks, Junya Ishigami, Johnston Marklee, William Katavolos, Francis Kéré, David Kohn, Hans Kollhoff, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Greg Lynn, Niklas Maak, Philippe Malouin, Peter Marino, Jürgen Mayer H., Thom Mayne, Roy McMakin, Richard Meier, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, OFFICE KGDVS, Rick Owens, Anca Petrescu, Boris Rebetez, Charles Renfro, RO/LU, Ole Scheeren, Clémence Seilles, Annabelle Selldorf, Peter Shire, Julius Shulman, Hedi Slimane, Ettore Sottsass, Oscar Tuazon, Rafael Viñoly, Andro Wekua, Robert Wilson, James Wines, and Bethan Laura Wood.
SHOTENKENCHIKU
ALAÏA
Editor Saki Kaneko
Photography by Yasuhiro Takagi
Autumn 2022
SHOTENKENCHIKU
BOUTIQUE CHLOÉ AOYAMA, TOKYO
April 2006
GRAND DESIGNS
HOUSE OF THE YEAR
CULTURED MAGAZINE
THE ART OF THE FASHION FLAGSHIP
By John Glendall
Photograph of Acne Studios Seoul by Annabel Elston
April/May 2019
AMERICAN VOGUE
“THE HOUSE BETWEEN TWO LAKES”: Inside Model Edie Campbell’s Lush Northamptonshire Bolthole
by Ellie Pithers
Photographs by Simon Watson
Styling by Tabitha Simmons
October 2021
DOMUS
THE ART OF LOOKING
By Deyan Sudjic
Photographs by Lee Funnell
March 2001
W MAGAZINE
HIP TO BE SQUARE
By Alice Rawsthorn
Photographs by Adrian Gaut
March 2019
FRAME MAGAZINE
ACNE’S KOREAN FLAGSHIP
By Shonquis Moreno
Photo by Annabel Elston
March 2016
DETAIL
CENTRAL AND SECLUDED: SOPHIE HICK’S PRIZE-WINNING PRIVATE RESIDENCE
by Edina Obermoser
Photographs by Annabel Elston and Sophie Hicks Architects
January 2020