Bringing people from different countries together through creativity is one of the most rewarding aspects of architecture and design. With a project initiated and commissioned by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), designer, maker and architect Adam Markowitz from Australia and Phantom Hands, designers and makers of furniture in India, have created unique and beautiful objects of desire.

The collection named REFRACTIONS comprises a dining table, bench, two pendant lights and a wall sconce and are made from American red oak, cherry and maple timber. Each object is supremely elegant incorporating curves and spatial voids to maximum effect.

The five pieces were presented at Sabha BLR in Bangalore as part of BLR Hubba, a two-week annual cultural festival held in early December 2024 that brings people from far and wide to experience all that the city has to offer on every level.

The initial idea was to promote an international collaboration with Markowitz and Phantom Hands and this cross-cultural connection has yielded an exceptional result.

Markowitz explains: “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 have arrived at working in isolation.”

As a starting point for the project, Markowitz was given a specific architectural space to consider that would leverage his particular skillset. Phantom Hands were aware of the bending and curvature in timber that Markowitz had mastered and were interested in learning more about the techniques. Lastly, Markowitz was asked to consider the Wood Rose, a unique flower as a possible starting point for design.

The dining table, made from American red oak, is deceptively simple in structure, with two facing half cylinders, which have been carved and shaped on-site with a pencil, jigsaw and hand tools. According to Markowitz, two facing half cylinders is the simplest way to make a table with curves, however, with the final handwork and sculpting the form is refined.

The bench also explores the strength of curves with both the seat and the legs extremely thin. If the form was flat, it would be unable to take a structural load, however, the curvature and laminating process provides strength.

To create the concepts of the designs Markowitz began with the idea of a shape which was ‘cut out’ of the table legs. The initial prototyping explorations were made from this offcut, although the final pieces were ultimately made independently.

The cutouts resulted in two curved, petal-like shapes, which spoke to the Wood Rose as a starting point given to Markowitz by Aparna Rao, Co-founder of Phantom Hands. The challenge lay in intersecting these two shapes in different ways to create strong and elegant pieces that would also conceal and reflect the light source.

The Banana Leaf Pendant, named for its similarity to the Banana Leaf, intersects two petal shapes along their long edges, creating a strong curved central spine. Each petal then flows from this central spine in a convex shape that diffuses the reflected light. A third petal suspended below, hugs the curved form above and conceals the light source.

Similarly, the design approach to the Butterfly Pendant rotates these petal elements and joins them along their short edge, to create two bower-like concave forms reminiscent of a butterfly’s wings. An inverted petal placed underneath conceals the light sources.

Markowitz comments: “While the lights in cherry and maple have been finished to express their lovely natural tone, red oak is known for its porosity and excellent ability to be stained. I took the opportunity to work with Phantom Hands to explore color options, something that is a frequent area of exploration in their other work. We settled on a color that darkened the oak, reminiscent of the teak that is a familiar tone in their collections and throughout India. Overall, these timbers work really well together with a gentle complementary contrast.”

In addition to the pendants, the wall sconce takes the two petal shapes and intersects them face to face to create a surface, which reflects the light and a smaller shroud, which conceals the light source.

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 visits to Bangalore, Markowitz 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, the Australian designer was able to not only build a rapport with the team in India but also learn from his Indian colleagues whose skills have been developed from their traditional craft.

There is no better result from this collegiate enterprise than creating friendships, learning together and designing exceptional objects. REFRACTIONS is a powerful collection of furniture and lighting pieces that unite us all through their magnificent forms and ultimate function. The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) is a supporter of The Object category at the 2025 INDE.Awards.

Adam Markowitz Design
adammarkowitzdesign.com

Phantom Hands
phantomhands.in

American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)
americanhardwood.org

Photography
Courtesy American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC)

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