30/07/2026
Introducing In Practice, a new series of conversations with the makers shaping what comes next for New Zealand design. Few countries this small produce work this good, and that’s worth shouting about.
We begin with Abdallah Alayan, a principal at Monk Mackenzie and an architect fascinated by the things most of us walk straight past: the alignment of a tile, the fall of light across a room, the quiet decision made at the scale of a millimetre.
We met him at Palimpsest House, a recent Monk Mackenzie project at Te Arai, to talk about the long, patient arc of a life in architecture. What emerged was a conversation less about buildings than about an acute attention to detail, an instinct he has had his whole life.
Read the full conversation via the link in our bio.
Abdallah Alayan
Monk Mackenzie
Film / Audio:
Dylan Martin
Lazar Petković
