This week we caught up with British architect Asif Khan, one of the four architects recently invited to design a summer house as part of the Serpentine Galleries’ annual architecture commission.

Having founded his own architectural practice in 2007, Khan has rapidly become one of the most exciting new names within British architecture. He tells us what initially inspired his love of modern design, and selects his dream London apartment.

What inspired your interest in architecture and design?
My late aunt, Naseem Manji, had impeccable modern taste. Her house had a set of nesting tables which I encountered regularly from childhood. In the same city, but on another side of town, our house was different and had very different things in it.

Only in my twenties when they were long lost did I realise the impression those little tables had on me. I sought them out and discovered they were 1950s Paul Kjaerholm designs, and hers were an original set. They had a white plexi surface which sat – but was not fixed – onto cubic steel frames, welded invisibly.

These simple almost transparent micro-structures stuck in my mind as a remarkable coincidence of absolute ordinariness and perfection.

If we could arrange a house swap for you, is there a house or apartment block in the UK that you’d go for?
Definitely an apartment in 10 Palace Gate – any floor with the double height windows.

Tell us about the house you grew up in.
It was a semi-detached 1930s house on a hill in south London.

In sequence: you walked up a hill to get home and stepped up two metres from street level to the front door. The house front and back was split by steps, the patio had steps into a garden, which itself was at two levels. The top of the sloping garden had a view of our roof and a pear tree which I used to spend a lot of time in.

My bedroom had a clear view of another hill covered with houses which would catch sunset every day.

When you’re thinking about buying a house, what’s the one thing you won’t compromise on?
The feeling of possibilities.

Is there a British architect or practice whose work you’re particularly excited by at the moment?
Nearby. TAKA Architects, based over in Dublin.

Who are you following on Instagram?
The Berlin-based illustrator Christoph Niemann (@abstractsunday), the Japanese chef @junyayamasaki, and the London food blogger @theskinnybib.