The Architecture of Possibility

Aaron Levinson

I occupy a 30,000 cubic foot loft in an historical building. Before moving into my dream space I lived in a charming row in Fishtown for 17 years. 
People ask if I ever miss it, candidly never. The fantasy of occupying a huge open plan factory space first came to me when I acted in an NYU student film. Part of the film was shot in a SoHo loft space. That was when I was first infected. 

My own space opens in a garden space first with my piano just to the left. I created a wall of synthetic leaves to create a sense of division and drama. This garden overlooks our courtyard which has a Japanese maple and dozens of plants and flowers spread throughout. 

I used an exterior patio flooring to make the garden solarium feel more natural and less like an indoor space. Once you pass under a large metallic sculpture I made and hung with fishing line to achieve a scary, floating effect you
enter the dining area and to the right of that is the living room area. The kitchen abuts the living space and is a row of sink and cabinets opposite an island with a range. My father and I extended the island so that it was the same as the cabinet wall that it faces. 

Just on the other side of the kitchen area I decided that I wanted to create a second level so that my windows could be viewed from foot level. 
We built a 21” riser and this now offers a very gracious and grand entrance to my listening space and gallery area. This listening room has a great deal of custom furniture commissioned by a relative of mine in the 60’s who had exceptional taste in everything. I have also added what appear to be decorative pieces that are in reality acoustical treatments masquerading as art. 

Finally it the very rear of the space are two rooms side by side. One is reached through a hidden door that is touch activated. Inside are two little worlds. One is the editing suite I built out for the films that I am currently working on and surrounding that are my treasured records. At the moment, I am making two music based documentary projects and shopping a dramatic streaming series. 

The records number somewhere in the 7500 neighborhood which though egregious is still below other earlier counts that far exceeded that. My area of expertise as a vinyl collector is in Latin music of the 60’s and 70’s. Though this is only one area of my collection as I also love so-called Spiritual Jazz and a variety of other genres that I collect and do DJ nights to share my love for the sounds. I actually do a monthly residency in Kensington called Dig We Must in honor of the film I’m making of the same name.

Finally oh the other side is the bedroom. Sparsely but tastefully outfit it’s largely without ornament and has a quirky hotel vibe from certain angles with the black floor and early 20th century commercial signage as decor. The treasure of all is a tiny Juliet balcony I installed a few years after buying the unit. It’s has simple iron work and a few oddly matched antique chairs and some wildflowers in mismatched pots.

My own artwork and those of my family and friends line the walls throughout the space. My own taste runs the gamut from 18th Century pen and ink portraiture to Centennial era flags and African masks.  When I lived in a conventional
as much as I customized it to my taste it never had the epic sense of space that I longed for as a home. 

Getting this place  was not easy as the vast majority of residential real estate options do not include living inside a 19th century dairy. As Philadelphians we are incredibly lucky in this respect. Once known as “ The Workshop of The World” when the manufacturing zenith was reached many spectacularly beautiful spaces were shuttered before loft conversion and reuse became a possible reimagining if those once  highly industrial buildings and neighborhoods.

I have lived in Maine and I have lived in Manhattan but I have never lived in a place that has brought me more joy and peace than living in Kensington in a factory. I understand that living here is not for everyone. It takes a special kind of character to ride out some of the challenges that a city like Philadelphia has faced and continues to do so now. 

When I sit on my couch with sunlight pouring in from 12 8’x8’ windows with a cat purring by my side and a cup of coffee in my hand, as Steely Dan ruminates on our fate I realize I am a lucky so and so…