Watching the storm clouds gather as people and cars and trains scurry by down below gives the tenant a Richard Scarry view of the world, writes Craig Jacobs

You know you're onto something when the New York Times likens your suburb to the cultural hub of Soho. And looking across the terrace of Michael Obert's Braamfontein loft onto the streets below, you get the impression that the much-hyped revitalisation of this area, just north of the Joburg CBD, has taken off.

Across the road an architectural firm has set up shop next door to Cafe de la Vie, with its avocado-coloured exterior walls and pretty flowers-in-boxes French-style windows. There is also a showroom for cult lighting company Willowlamp, while around the corner is the Co-Op art space and the trendy Narina Trogon restaurant.

There's scaffolding across almost every building. Many of these places will soon open and the apartments will be snapped up by people who have fallen in love with the city and students seeking lodging near Wits university. Also in the planning are a boutique hotel and a colony of artists' studios.

At the epicenter of all this is the seven- storey, glass-clad building, which is home to Obert's pad, just across from the Nelson Mandela Bridge.

"I'm not a suburban kind of guy. I'm a city one. This is my dream," says Obert, as he shows us around the 300m² rectangular apartment, which flows from lounging to dining to relaxing (in front of a fireplace) and into the bedroom in the space of a few steps.

The shell, with its huge windows, is a place that is enveloped into the world outside.

"My loft is very much about what's going on outside as it is about the inside. The view is ever-present and ever-changing with cars, trains and people moving throughout the day.

"Seasons and weather patterns also impact on the experience. Rain is the best as the clouds build over the south of the city and then roll towards the loft. A bolt of lightening can traverse the entire building, starting on one side and ending on the other."

Because of this, Obert took a minimal approach to décor, seeking out pieces which are intriguing and aesthetically pleasing without clashing with the outside scene - and low enough to allow for an unobstructed view from one end of the space to the other.

"The pieces were painstakingly selected as they not only have to define the living spaces but also have to work synergistically as one giant composition," says Obert. "I failed in this regard for years, but have recently made some changes that have helped tie everything together."

Obert's much-loved PK-31 chairs from Poul Kjaerholm form part of the lounge area and the stark Tonic-designed solid wood dining table and chairs seem to meld into the cement floor. The "float" bed from David Marcal Furniture, with its milky linen, disappears into the stark white of the walls.

Obert praises Greg Gamble of Tonic Design for helping bring the space to life when he moved in and Vanize Manjate Interiors for subsequent assistance.

"This is my favourite space because it is totally unique. I think all of us who live in this building are constantly reminded how lucky we are. There are not too many 300 square metre glass lofts perched directly above dynamic cities anywhere in the world. At least not that I can afford!

"I love how the space is totally interactive with the city and the weather. And I also love that it is functional and doubles as a gallery where I can host private functions and openings."

Obert says the PK-31 chairs are his favourite pieces in the room. "My friends will vouch for the fact that I obsess about everything that enters my loft. I'm a huge fan of 20th-century Danish design and it took me a few years to track them down."

Unsurprisingly, with his work immersed in art, and the space easily transformed into a gallery, art works pop up all around the loft.

A work by Walter Battiss sits on a wall between two rooms that lead off the main space, while two sculptures by Conrad Botes, White Zombie and Black Zombie, appear on a table or a bench.

But perhaps the most eye-catching - and most talked-about - works are Vusi Beauchamp's heavily politicised satire with a pop-cartoon bent inspired by President Jacob Zuma. These works take pride of place above Obert's bed.

Titled Love Machine, Expedition and Terror, he says they are "clear favourites among my friends".