Africa places its natural beauty at the forefront, but its cities are downplayed. This hasn't stopped architect, illustrator and entrepreneur, Nikhil Triggum from finding endless inspiration in South Africa's urban environments. And now we'll find out why. Cities are often portrayed as soulless, un-caring places, but this isn't how Nikhil Triggum sees them. As he spends doubts across the paper, he creates an image that is closer to a portrait than a landscape, filtering out colour to focus online, texture and shading. Picking out the salient details of his subject, he incorporates street scenes and passes by to offer sense of context and style. Someone who aims to capture the boldness of our rich urban environments is none other than urban-based artist and architect, Nikhil Triggum. Now we're at his workplace to find out a little bit more by where he draws his inspiration from. Nikhil completed his master's degree in architecture at Nelson Mandela University in Portellis with in 2010, winning the Corridor Brick Award for Top Design project in the Eastern Cape that year. Nikhil! Kevin! How's it going? I've heard so much about you. Can't wait to hear the story from you directly. Let's have a chat. Cool. Beneath the quiet exterior, Nikhil is driven by curiosity and creative energy, which he expresses through his pen, camera and personal style. He's a man of many talents, but here at Mela we like to start at the very beginning, so tell me about your upbringing. What was it like growing up for you? I grew up all over South Africa and home surrounded by creative people, like my grandmother and my mother. I wouldn't have been who I am now without them. I was always encouraged to do express like fine new ways, drawing fine new ways of creating. It definitely informed who I am now and what I do now. In terms of culture, what were your cultural influences growing up? I grew up in a Gujrati household, but not with the religious background, so all the language, the food, the culture, the customs were there, but having grown up in so many cities all around South Africa with so many different groups of friends and in different households, I'd say I was influenced and grew a lot from many different cultures. So architecture, how did that begin? Having grown up in so many different cities in South Africa, I was always interested in what created the memories that I have. Cities seemed like the canvas onto which memories were painted and the buildings in those cities served to frame them, so it seemed like the natural course to take. There was a practice that I always wanted to work for and I ended up getting a job here. And I left PE on like a couple of days notice and just rode into urban in the first of January 2013 and yeah, haven't looked back since. The Moses Mabida Stadium is a spectacular sports venue, but designing a home can be no less challenging or rewarding. A balance must be struck between form and function, and Tevin was curious to discover how important style is in Nikhil's creative process. I wouldn't say it's defined by a style specifically. I'd say it's defined more by the future. What's it going to be used? How is it going to shape people's memories and people's experiences? I always try and take cues from a number of different things, so what are the people going to use the building for? And what's around it? What does the climate say? What is the light to? Cities are like rooms, and each different city has a real different character. And that influences how people interact with one another and what relationships form in there. And the design of urban landscapes is integral to creating those things and enabling those things. So it's always fascinated me. In South Africa, we've got incredible architects. If you look at great African architects like Francis Carrier, we've got so much to contribute to the world, because Africa is such a diverse place in terms of landscape, in terms of culture, in terms of building typologies, in terms of history. And drawing on all of those things, we have so much power to make positive change through building and through the design of cities. So African architectures on their eyes. Nikhil, there's a lot more to you than just architecture. Can you tell us more about your hobbies and some of your other jobs? Actually, I've got something to show you guys. Why don't we go through to my studio and we can have a look at some of my art and some of the leather work? Sure, look it forward to it. For Nikhil, art complements architecture, allowing a boy and freedom of expression that isn't limited by practical considerations of space, strength, and the force of gravity. Nikhil, behind you, you've got a beautiful piece of art right there. Tell me about that piece. What inspired it? So this is an India ink sketch of Durban City Hall that I did for the commemoration of the opening of the 2017 symphony season. This is a print, but the original was handed out as a prize to one of the attendees of the orchestra. I think people add scale to it, drawing. So you get a real sense of the grandeur of the building. It's such an iconic Durban piece. Introduced to leather work by a friend, Nikhil began making his own accessories when he couldn't find items that matched his design and quality requirements. How did the leather studio begin? It started off as a hobby and as I started posting pieces on social media, orders started coming in and the lady who was once my domestic worker became my leather assistant. She started supporting an entire family off of this thing and it's growing in leaps and bounds and we are proudly South African in our workforce and our material. Well I'm excited to see your studio. Let's go. Let's go. So this is the workstation. This is where it all happens. Nikhil, explain what's happening here. So Justice and Rosa are very talented assistants of video-to-finisher and order. Justice, hi Rosa. You've got some nice wavits here. These are little card wallets. They're like essentials only. If you're going out at night, all you do is take that along with you. What's the reception been like? Have people been enjoying it? We've had such a good reception. We've had repeat customers. People coming back to us just to tell us how happy they are with their pieces. I get photos from customers in London and in Mauritius. Like a year after they bought one of my products and look how good it looks. Look at the age. Look at the patina. It's incredible. And that makes it work. Nikhil, thank you so much man. It's been a pleasure. Wonderful. Thanks for the food. That's what I'm through. Autist, architect and designer. Clearly a man of many talents. But what makes Nikhil's art so unique is the fact that he's passionately curious and esoterically conscious, which makes his art something of an enigma.