The World of Interiors is returning to its roots this December with a new approach to size—this time, adopting the Maxi. After last year’s pocket-sized edition, the magazine is expanding its scope to explore vast spaces, bold decoration, and the sheer scale of human creativity, from celestial charts to oversized art installations.
The Maxi Issue won’t be a literal giant—no unwieldy tome to clutter bookshelves. Instead, alongside the standard December edition, readers can purchase a separate slipcase containing nine fold-out posters, each designed to showcase the theme of scale. The posters, sold independently, will appear throughout the magazine’s content, blending seamlessly with the main issue.
From the Stars to the Earth
The theme begins with the cosmos. Johann Bayer, a 17th-century lawyer-turned-astronomer, mapped the night sky in Uranometria, the first atlas to chart the entire celestial sphere. This month’s cover features Pegasus, one of Bayer’s constellations, as a symbol of the issue’s ambition. Artists and thinkers were invited to reflect on humanity’s relationship with the heavens, with contributions ranging from aerial photography of fabrics to paper cut-out kits for oversized four-poster beds.
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Miranda Sinclair and Rose Eaglesfield captured fabrics from extreme heights, literally, while David Lipton curated a selection of larger-than-life mirrors. The issue also ventures into Melbourne’s newly renovated Ian Potter State Theatre, where the intricately decorated front curtain exemplifies the grandeur of maximalist design.
A Defence of the Bold
Seetal Solanki’s Room for Debate challenges the notion that maximalism must be restrained. Writing about her parents’ Leicester living room, she argues that true maximalism includes plastic flowers, doilies, and mismatched cushions, not just bold wallpaper. The piece serves as a counterpoint to the idea that excess must be confined to controlled aesthetics.
Elsewhere, the issue explores spaces where scale dominates. In the Czech Republic, Castolovice Castle underwent a budget-friendly renovation by Diana Phipps Sternberg, its heir, without compromising on ambition. Charlie Porter visits Whatnot & China Town in South Africa, a shop overflowing with Wedgwood, Spode, and Royal Doulton, each piece contributing to a sense of decorative abundance.
Monuments and Miniatures
Dallas’s Fair Park, the site of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition, is described by Mitchell Owens as “bodacious”, filled with towering horses, giant fish, and mythological figures. Holly EJ Black visits Factum Arte in Madrid, where historical facsimiles, including colossal reproductions, are created with such precision they could be mistaken for originals.
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Betsy Jones travels to Lahore, where a 475-meter-long wall lines a 400-year-old Mughal fort, its scale lending itself perfectly to a concertina-style poster. Meanwhile, Alice Kemp-Habib documents a trailblazing Modernist villa on London’s Isle of Dogs, while Ronald Bush’s collection of 7,000 farm tools in the USA showcases the ingenuity of labor-saving inventions.
The issue closes with an essay by Pablo Bronstein on Claes Oldenburg, the artist known for transforming ordinary objects into vast sculptures. Bronstein responds with his own acrylic toadstool, a humongous piece commissioned for the poster collection.
The slipcase and posters will be available from 12 November, sold separately from the December issue. For a full list of stockists, visit the magazine’s website.
