Timber iQ August - September 2020 // Issue: 50 August - September 2020 | Page 6

NEWS
IMAGES BY AHEC
Samples of American red oak, cherry and maple, in different finishes, sent to the designers that will be used for the challenge.
9 designers, 3 hardwoods,
1 workshop
By AHEC
The onset of Covid-19 has significantly changed the way people live, interact
and work. In the design world, creatives and makers have had to adapt their
processes using new technologies to work together at a distance and often
operating from new, improvised home offices.
Connected is an experiment set out to explore how
designers and craftsmen adapt their working practices
during lockdown. For this project the American
Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Benchmark Furniture and
the Design Museum have challenged nine international
designers to create a table and seating, which will suit the new
ways of working from and living at home.
They will also record their creative journeys to allow us to witness how
they approach the brief and develop their thoughts, sketches and ideas
during these challenging times.
The resulting pieces will be shown at the Design Museum, in London, as
an installation called Connected, when the museum re-opens to the
public, celebrating the act of physically coming back together –
reconnecting – after lockdown.
MADE TOGETHER APART
Connected will also explore how designers can champion a beautiful
and sustainable material: hardwood. What designers will be using is
American red oak, American cherry and American maple woods.
The project will challenge both the designers and craftsmen at Benchmark
to work in innovative ways by relying solely on digital communication and
video conferencing to bring the designers’ visions to life.
This approach will require a new level of trust in the makers, since the
designers will have no physical contact with their pieces until they are
finished and on display at the Design Museum.
Each designer will be paired with a craftsman at Benchmark’s workshop
in Berkshire, with whom they will develop their pieces. Benchmark will
4 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2020 // www.timberiq.co.za