Alexander Josephson lived in Europe while completing a master’s degree in architecture. There, he was inspired by the work of Kurt Schwitters, a surrealist artist who created an almost unlivable space for himself in Weimar-era Germany. When Josephson moved back to his hometown of Toronto in 2009, he set out to design something equally bold: a raw space that rejects contemporary conventions about living. His starting point was a 700-square-foot apartment, belonging to a distant cousin, that had been divided into a warren of six closet-size rooms. Josephson signed a lease and began a 15-month renovation, ripping out every wall by hand. (He says he enjoyed the process so much, he developed a bad case of “demolition-itis.”) The floors were covered in several layers of paint. Sanding them down left smoky patterns, which Josephson liked, so he preserved them with a reflective polyurethane resin. For other jobs, he bartered with friends and friends-of-friends, including a guy who built Josephson’s kitchen counters in exchange for two giant pieces of wood from the demolition. Post-recession foreclosure auctions proved to be a great resource for light fixtures, conduits and other accessories. The space is sparse: he sleeps on a mattress placed on a platform of tatami mats from Nagasaki. He has no couch and no television. Most astonishingly, there are no walls around his bathroom, which makes things a little complicated for guests. Male visitors are usually willing to pee in the toilet, particularly after a few drinks, but women tend to sneak off to a communal washroom down the hall.
Together with his cousin David Cooper, Josephson designed this Nixie Clock and railing with bulbs once used in the Ukraine by the Soviet military.
Josephson chose the 1970s operating room lamp to remind him of his father, an ear, nose and throat surgeon.
In the course of his demolition, Josephson exposed the wooden laths. He then sanded the wood and installed lights behind. (“The light through the slats makes me feel like I’m living in a treehouse,” he says.)
The table has two parts: the bottom layer is Plexiglas, which Josephson uses for meals and meetings; the top layer (suspended above) is wood, and can be lowered by an electric winch to fit flush. This is where Josephson works, usually with Pooya Baktash, his partner in the firm Partisan Studio.
The cane seats were designed in 1928 by Marcel Breuer.
The ceiling fixtures are all standard Home Depot models. Josephson relied so much on the store for the project that he painted his front door bright orange as a quirky tribute.
This piece, entitled Redacted Abstract Expressionist Painting, is by the Toronto artists Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins. It is designed to look like a censored document.
Josephson’s grandfather gave him this African mask from the Songye Tribe (circa 1900). His grandfather used to wear it sometimes as a lark.
The light sculpture is by Isamu Noguchi from Artemide.
The kitchen counter is by Michael Greenwood, who used wood salvaged during the demolition. He also did the woodwork throughout the apartment.
Josephson’s drawing of a dream city floating in the sky is based on an abandoned gas factory in the south of Rome.
This Magaron Terra lamp by Gianfranco Frattini, circa 1979, came from Josephson’s grandmother’s study.
The little brass infant sculpture is one of a series Josephson made while he was studying in Rome. He photographed them in various locations in Beijing as part of a project that won the Van Alen Institute’s New York fellowship prize.
(Images: Michael Graydon)
Excellent! I wish the photos were larger to see more detail though.
March 22, 2011 at 10:49 am | by skubeWhat an atrocious project. I’m actually rather dumbstruck that this project is garnering attention. How anyone can call this an ‘excellent’ built project is beyond comprehension.
This project induces a feeling of such incoherent discontinuity through a meaningless, and quite random, placement of spaces/objects that it makes architects like myself sick.
Sorry, but this project is out-and-out dreadful.
March 22, 2011 at 11:15 am | by sickened by bad designArt installation, maybe. Livable residence, no.
March 22, 2011 at 1:03 pm | by Nevillei think the design is nice, interesting… but also ensures that no girlfriend will ever move in (or stay longer than a night) but maybe that’s his goal?
March 22, 2011 at 3:31 pm | by TrudieI like the freedom and creativity of the space. I might have a hard time living in it myself, but then I don’t have to. I applaud Alexander for looking for beauty in simple, sometimes “found” materials, and I commend him for experimenting with his living space. All architects (but especially young architects) should take risks and explore new ways of thinking and living.
March 22, 2011 at 3:41 pm | by CarlI think it’s brilliant. The bathroom may be a problem, but it’s a design choice. I’m sure there’s at least 20 women in Toronto that would love it too.
March 22, 2011 at 7:10 pm | by AndrewSeriously? If it’s not ridiculously expensive spaces, it’s ridiculously unlivable ones.
Who exactly is your market, Toronto Life? Rich people and people that like to take communal dumps?
March 22, 2011 at 7:14 pm | by Torontoguy15 months and this is the best he could do. Could have saved 2 months by leaving out the toilet and telling everyone to go piss in the corner.
March 22, 2011 at 7:20 pm | by PaulPretentious.
March 22, 2011 at 9:42 pm | by Sidmust be a special project to generate this much negative vibe. would be interested to see future work by this individual.
March 22, 2011 at 10:09 pm | by nathanPeople please- He designed his own space to live in- it’s not like he is pretending he’s Debbie Travis and asking Canadian Tire to take him on. Some things design wise I find interesting and others are quite pretentiously young- but I think Gehry wasn’t thinking metal fish when he was 28 either. Let the guy breathe and play before you all jump all over it- it wasn’t for a client- it’s his space.
March 23, 2011 at 2:25 pm | by Joe Dps I LOVE the floors!!
Worst….space…..ever!!
March 24, 2011 at 10:23 am | by AlexandraLooks a lot like our Victorian, after the demo and before the reno. Hope he doesn’t entertain.
March 24, 2011 at 2:07 pm | by BasiliskI dont find this room appealing in anyway.
March 25, 2011 at 10:43 am | by vedette@ Joe D, Yes! Don’t knock it till you try it!
March 28, 2011 at 2:24 pm | by alexander josephsonI wish that Victoria Webster’s text hadn’t been so parsed there is much to glean from her descriptions beyond taking dumps in front of one another…. I invite all critics over for a drink, if you can hold it.