REIMAGINE: ‘translating’ a furniture tradition in wood

 

Warp and weft in wood – Annkur Khosla’s jhoola reinterpretation was inspired by weaving processes.

June, 2023: Five of India’s best-known architects unveiled their designs for the traditional jhoola (an Indian swing seat) at a gala launch at INDEX Mumbai, which took place at the Jio World Convention Centre (JWCC) from May 26–28, 2023.

A design collaboration launched by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and THINK! Design, the project challenged Annkur Khosla, Naresh V. Narasimhan, Prem Nath, Sanjay Puri and Sonali & Manit Rastogi to recreate that quintessentially Indian piece of furniture using American hardwoods. AHEC’s biggest design collaboration to date in India, the swings were manufactured by Bram Woodcrafting Studio, based in Mysore, and with Melbourne-based Adam Markowitz serving as a mentor for the project.

 

Naresh Narasimhan applied his 35 years of experience in architecture and urban design to ‘reimagining’ a traditional Indian furniture form. The design derives from the Veena, a popular element in Hindola Raga paintings. In Indian culture, the swing was traditionally considered a luxury, mostly owned by royalty and placed in outdoor gardens and verandas.

Speaking at the launch, Roderick Wiles, AHEC Regional Director, said: “Jhoolas, which were a common sight in many Indian households, seem to have fallen out of favour in recent times. Nonetheless, they continue to have an allure on account of the memories they carry. For REIMAGINE, the architects were asked to draw on their childhood memories of playfulness, their teenage years of angst and to temper these with ‘grown-up’ elegance in a furniture piece for a contemporary context; a limited edition, legacy piece made from American hardwoods. The architects were given the option to select from three species (a single species or a combination), which were American cherry, maple and red oak.”

A modern-day jhoola as designed by Prem Nath, CEO of Prem Nath & Associates is a Mumbai based ‘Complete Design Organization’ established in 1967. For Prem Nath, the Indian Swing is a feature of playful outdoor combination of strings and plank hung from the branches of tree or an ornate piece of indoor furniture, which gives thrills and gentle joys of swinging motion and mood.

Commenting on his involvement, Adam Markowitz, said: “As both architect, furniture designer and craftsman, my role was similar to that of a language translator, acting between the architects and the manufacturer. As with any good translation – there is a bit of artistry required of the translator to communicate the nuance from one language into another and back again. Architects by nature of their profession need to be generalists in a huge range of areas that comprise the built form, and as a result often don't have the detailed knowledge of working with solid timber, which is a material that has great complexity.

Sanjay Puri’s swing was designed to look monolithic and fluid simultaneously with the seat, armrests and back merging into each other creating a sculptural look. Whilst it can be used as a swing, it is also designed to appear as an art form.

“Solid timber needs to be worked with, rather than against – when you try to make timber do something it doesn’t want to do, the timber usually wins! Manufacturers therefore have a range of very real-world considerations determining their decision making – they want to make things quickly, efficiently and in a way that means it will hold together for a long time without any problems. However, sometimes the strongest, most efficient and longest lasting solution does not deliver the best design outcome. Mediating between these two sometimes polar approaches of design and manufacturing can be challenging, and requires flexibility and agility on the part of the designer, and sensitivity and an understanding of the bigger picture from the manufacturer.”

Detail from Sonali Rastogi’s laminated jhooli recreation. Founded in 1996 by Ar. Sonali and Manit Rastogi, Morphogenesis is one of India’s leading Architecture and Urban Design practices.

“Working with the AHEC team on the REIMAGINE project, has been an absolute pleasure and a proud moment for the BWS team”, said Bram Rouws, Founder and Director, Bram Woodcrafting Studio. To have indirectly worked on these five beautiful designs, it was amazing to see the final product come together and we are proud of what we had achieved. We are thankful to Adam for having enabled easy communication between everyone. We always looks forward to challenges, and crafting these pieces required taking into consideration not only the intricacies of the design, but also, the inherent constraints of woodworking.”

In his concluding words at the opening Roderick Wiles noted: “With REIMAGINE, our goal was to engage the A+D community and the public at large in the appreciation of sustainable hardwoods, of which the US is a leading supplier. Bringing together the creativity of some of India’s most eminent architects, we wanted to showcase the beauty of their work and the loveliness and immense capabilities of the hardwoods that have been used.

“We appreciate and are immensely grateful to the five architects for their vision, to Adam Markowitz for his skilled mentorship and to Bram Woodcrafting Studio for their master craftsmanship. With a low environmental impact, the hardwoods themselves are repositories of hope for the future of sustainable design.”

For more information see: www.americanhardwood.org and @ahec_india