Not everything is steeped in Brazil. In the study a floor below, the playful verticality of an Ai Weiwei sculpture, constructed with bamboo and a vase at either end, demonstrates how dimensions here travel in arcs and curves, or zip along floor-to-ceiling height. Along with a vast array of volumes, the bookshelves hold non-bibliophilic treasures: Brazilian clay female figurines known as ritxòkò, some pregnant, stare serenely at an Oscar Niemeyer couch, while a child’s kaleidoscope nestles ingeniously against a handsome guide to psilocybin mushrooms. An intentional pairing, I wonder… ‘It used to be my daughter Mara’s,’ says Mollof laughing. ‘Most things in this house are intentional, but that represents a beautifully unthought-through moment.’
Before leaving, I encounter the eerie surprise of a giant snow globe by the artist Olivia Erlanger. Its oversized dome encircles a home in blank, wan colours, an uncanny comment on the American vernacular of identikit, suburban isolation. Mollof’s home, by contrast, takes its sophistication seriously, its playfulness more so, her collecting style ‘contextualised by skeins of connection and storytelling. There’s the object itself, and what it achieves, yet also everything it represents.’
Slipping into busy Bayswater, I recall the ‘visual haiku’ of the kaleidoscope tucked beside the psilocybin guide, along with Mollof’s interpretation: ‘Its meaning? Have some fun!’
Alexandra Mollof. am-fa.com
A version of this article appears in the November 2026 issue of ‘The World of Interiors’. Learn about our subscription offers.
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