Kfir Gluzberg circled back to Toronto after a University of Waterloo undergraduate degree, two New York City years, studies at the robotics-focused Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona, an M.Arch. at McGill University, and a Tel Aviv sojourn. Toronto was “sleepy” when he left in 2001, but no more: the city now has enough enterprise for the 31-year-old founder of four-person Kilogram Studio. Most would say he’s showing precocious talent, but Gluzberg himself says with a laugh, “I feel rushed—there’s no time to waste.”
In Greenhouse Juice Co., he found a start-up retail client on the same wavelength. Nine Kilogram-designed Greenhouse outlets have opened throughout Toronto; several more are in the works. They’re all tiny—the first, less than two metres wide—and they’re all different. At the Commerce Court location, in the underground PATH network, neon renditions of the company’s house-icon logo are infinitely reflected in mirrored boxes, catching the eye of busy corporate commuters. Locations in residential areas translate the company’s branding into a mellower palette.
Larger-scale commissions, including Kilogram’s first office project, are now materializing. Naming the studio after a unit of measurement signals an interest in working across a range of scales, on real-world projects, Gluzberg says. “Architects really hone the skill of imagining spaces and being able to inhabit something conceptual. That’s great, but at the end of the day, the thing you’re bringing into the world has a weight and an implication.”
