First under the spotlight in our new ‘The Modern House meets …’ series is Malaika Byng, editor-in-chief of The Spaces – a digital publication exploring new ways to live and work. Launched in 2015, the publication brings together architecture, design, art and property to examine how the way we use our homes is changing.

What inspired your interest in Modern architecture and design?
I grew up on the outskirts of a village in rural Hampshire, surrounded by Victorian cottages and a 14th-century church. It was a place that Modern architecture hadn’t really touched. So for me, Modernism felt like something very fresh.

I was drawn by the quality and fluidity of space in homes by the likes of Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe – and the emphasis on natural light, truth to materials, and using the minimum of gestures … things that are just as important today. I have also always been interested in art with an architectural bent, by the likes of Sol Lewitt, Dan Flavin and Robert Irwin. Their work has some of the same qualities.

If we could arrange a house swap for you, is there a house or apartment block in the UK that you’d like to live in?
Rather than house swap, would you let me commission a home from scratch?! With a big budget, preferably.

Tell us about the house you grew up in.
A Victorian/Edwardian farmhouse … Not exactly one to nurture a love of Modernism, but it did have good proportions going for it (except for my bedroom).

When you’re thinking about buying a house, what’s the one thing you won’t compromise on?
It must have natural light, and lots of it!

Is there a British architect or practice whose work you’re particularly excited by at the moment?
I couldn’t pick just one, so I’m going for a trio: Jonathan Tuckey, for the way he marries old and new; vPPR for their inventive approach to seemingly impossible urban plots; and Liddicoat & Goldhill, for their unexpected yet very site-specific additions to London terraces.

Who are you following on Instagram?
I think at the moment my favourites would have to be @diaartfoundation, for art-meets-architecture, @vincentvanduysen for minimalism and texture, and @thespacesmag for endless inspiration, of course!