A Mixture of Old and New, Modernity and Nostalgia | keren niv toledano

The 90 m2 Jerusalem apartment, located in one of the capital city's oldest neighborhoods, was purchased for a young couple. As is appropriate for Jerusalem, the neighborhood combines new and old, modernity and nostalgia, and so does the house, a building designated for conservation in which massive work has been carried out on the infrastructures and to strengthen the building. “During the renovation and the demolition process, authentic stone walls were discovered, which had been covered with plaster boards,” says designer Keren Niv Toledano. “The apartment was replanned and redivided, while maintaining its Jerusalem style with the important characteristics of the city, together with modern, technological solutions and use of up-to-date materials, which together create the right balance.”

The arched windows were retained, with the addition of iron fixtures, as were the walls with the original bricks discovered during demolition.

In the living room a gray carpet defines the space; as the room is small, the coffee table that was chosen to stand in its center has a transparent glass top placed on a natural wooden base, which gives a light appearance and an airy feeling. A lighting fixture made of stretched linen with cement brushed onto it corresponds with the natural stones; restrained minimalistic styling in Niv-Toledano’s special way.

The massive oak dining table contrasts with the airiness of the adjacent living room. In view of the dining corner’s low ceiling (part of the building’s stairwell is above the dining corner), it was decided to place a European copper lighting fixture close to the ceiling, and due to its complexity, this was designed on-site.

The kitchen contains high cabinets, custom-made by a master carpenter according to the designer’s specifications, with hidden storage for integral refrigerators, electrical appliances, and more. The rust-like appearance of the kitchen island’s surface corresponds well with the smoothed concrete floor; the other spaces in the apartment have parquet floors for pleasant warmth. Three dominant bell-shaped hanging lighting fixtures with a vintage-style glaze were chosen for the kitchen, and they also add to the dialogue between old and new.

The kitchen has two doors that give the impression of being part of the kitchen's facade, but in fact one of them leads to the private area of the master bedroom and separates the public space from the private space. The door leads to a corridor with a red Kilim rug; the shower is on the right and the walk-in closet on the left, and the master bedroom is located at the end of the corridor with access to the back yard and to the toilet and shower and walk-in closet. A beautiful and charmingly sweet orchard garden surrounds the garden apartment.

An iron bookcase located a long corridor in the public area defines its length; the bookcase acts as a functional element and contains the air conditioning unit as well as artworks and decorative objects that correspond with the apartment. Another corridor next to the bookcase leads to the second suite, which has a private washroom.

On the one hand the designer has used very basic materials such as natural stone, concrete in the kitchen, fishbone parquet, steel lighting fixtures and a massive wooden table, together with soft materials with much textile, linen, soft colors, ceramic jars that are characteristic of Jerusalem, and olive branches.