Space Invaders

No matter what medium Todd Oldham works in — clothing, photography, furniture — the designer delivers something unexpected. His latest venture is no exception. In Place Space (available now), a series of gorgeous photo books, Oldham dedicates each of the four volumes to a fresh, funky location that will change the way you think about home.

With vivid photos (all taken by Oldham) and minimal text, the subjects’ resourcefulness and innovation take center stage. In John Waters, which examines the filmmaker’s abode, Oldham’s camera lingers on an electric chair that’s now a book rack; Home Studio Home, which explores the apartments of Rhode Island School of Design students, features a dorm with AstroTurf carpeting and tinfoil wallpaper.

Like the locations he fawns over, each book is a design masterpiece in which not an inch is wasted. When unfolded, the dust jackets become posters with info about each location. The one for Bedrock City — about the life-size replica of the Flintstones’ town — clues readers into the city’s creation (the buildings are made of Gunnite). And by opening up the jacket for Camp Nest, about an artist colony, we learn its gym ceiling is decorated with duplicated pictures of an old man in a jock strap. You may not want to recreate that in your own home, but you’ll never look at your ceiling the same way again.


The Place Space series is available now from AMMO Books.