“My initial concern was to make sure that my work was imbued with an Indian-ness that was reflective of the collaboration and cultural exchange. Working closely with Phantom Hands, the collaboration became far more personal in nature and became less about an ‘Australian in India’ or ‘Western Designer/Maker meets Indian Designer/maker’ and far more ‘Adam meets Phantom Hands’. I think the result of this interpersonal, process-based method speaks for itself in the work together - looking at the pieces they are not something I would not have arrived at working in isolation,” - Adam Markowitz, Founder, Adam Markowitz Design.
A key component of the collaboration involved knowledge transfer and skill sharing between Markowitz and Phantom Hands. Working remotely in Australia and then in-person during his visits to Bangalore, Adam was able to help the team from Phantom Hands master methods for laminating timber, including techniques for sawing veneer; techniques for stitching veneer together into larger panels; methods of jig making for pressing veneers into shapes; and methods for gluing with clamps and with a vacuum press. Despite the language barrier, Adam was able to not only build a rapport with the team in India, but he also learnt a lot from watching them work.
“We had been talking to AHEC for a while, but it took some time to find the right project. AHEC understood that we wanted to be a part of the design process for the products that would get made as part of the collaboration. They introduced us to the architect and furniture designer Adam Markowitz, with an open mandate to make anything we wanted to. What was attractive to us about working with Adam was that he was a hands-on woodworker, with plenty of experience in working with American hardwoods. Adam came to us with an open mind and the idea for the products came out of several conversations we had with him," - Deepak Srinath, Co-Founder, Phantom Hands.
The initial brief involved Markowitz being given a specific architectural space to consider as a starting point, with the aim of leveraging his specific set of skills. Phantom Hands were also aware of the work that Markowitz had done with bending and curvature in wood, and they were interested in learning more about those techniques specifically, so ideally the work would involve bending and curvature to encourage the opportunity for skill sharing. Lastly, Markowitz was asked to consider the Wood Rose, a unique flower as a possible starting point. These formed the defining starting elements of the project and shaped the initial design process.
“Not only did AHEC via the Rossi Group provide us with three timber species to experiment with, they also connected us to technical experts to help us learn about working with each of these species. Access to this kind of expertise was invaluable, and we've already launched products in American hardwoods like red oak because of the knowledge we gained from his project. The environmental credentials of American hardwoods make them extremely attractive for us and the data on regeneration provided for each species helped us make clear decisions on which timbers we would want to use in our future collections. In fact, I would go so far as to say that decisions on which species we want to work with will influence the design of our future collections,” – Deepak Srinath.