markowitzdesign is an interdisciplinary design studio founded in 2014, currently operating out of the Meat Markets Arts House in North Melbourne. We offer a range of finely crafted production furniture as well as bespoke commission work. The studio revels in the joy of materials and a passion for physicality in design.
Our work is made with passion by skilled makers who take pride in their work, and are operating within the local Melbourne community. We believe in a sustainable, non-disposable approach to the objects we own - where attention to detail and understanding of materials means that the objects are designed to last generations, not end up in landfill.
Adam Raphael Markowitz is an architect and furniture designer. He has attended graduate schools of design & craft in Melbourne (The University of Melbourne), Hobart (The University of Tasmania), The Netherlands (TU Delft), Denmark (The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts) and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Maine USA.
Exposed in those schools to fine craft and traditional joinery, he has developed a design philosophy that values the intimate connection between design and fabrication, and the new opportunities found at the intersection of modern digital processes and traditional methods of craftsmanship.
When not prototyping in the workshop, Markowitz currently teaches Design and Architecture at the Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne. The rest of the time he can usually be found searching for a wave somewhere along our great coast.
AWARDS
2019 Winner, Denfair Best Stand Design (For the American Hardwoods Export Council)
2019 ‘Rising Star’ Winner, Australian Timber Design Awards (For AHEC Denfair Pavilion)
2018 Winner, ICFF Studio New York
2017 Shortlisted, Australian Furniture Design Award (Stylecraft / Jam Factory / Art Gallery SA)
2016 Shortlisted, IDEA Awards – Emerging Designer of the Year
2016 Winner, VIVID Emerging Design Award – Lighting Category
2015 Winner, ACE Emerging Design Award – Craftsmanship Category
2014 Winner, VIVID Emerging Design Award – Furniture Category
2014 Recipient, Dame Joan Sutherland Travelling Artist Fund
(To undertake fine craft study, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Maine USA)
2012 Marie Edwards Travelling Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Denmark
EXHIBITIONS
2021 (upcoming) alt.material group show – NGV Melbourne Design Week 2021
2021 (upcoming) By-Product group show – NGV Melbourne Design Week 2021
2021 Wallpaper* Mentor for “Discovered” Emerging Designer showcase, London Design Fair 2021
2020, 21 Vivid Emerging Design Competition – Judging Panel
2020 Woodreview Maker of the Year Award – Judging Panel
2020 Ductility - alt.material (NGV Melbourne Design Week 2020)
2020 Ingenuity – September (response to Covid)
2019 Fresh! Craft Victoria Graduate Showcase, Selection Panel
2019 AGM Expo19, as part of Friends & Associates group, curated Dale Hardiman & Tom Skeehan
2019 Denfair – Exhibition Pavilion for American Hardwoods Export Council
2019 Plasticity, Melbourne Design Week, as part of alt.material Experimental Group
2019 Welcome to Wasteland, NGV Melbourne Design Week curated Dale Hardiman & Tom Skeehan
2018 ICFF Studio, New York
2018 ‘This is not Memphis’ group show, Craft Victoria (with Damien Wright, Laura McCusker, Bern Chandley, Brian Cush, & Daniel Poole)
2018 Plasticity, as part of Alt.Material Experimental Group, Curated by Studio Edwards
2018 AGM, as part of Friends & Associates group, curated by Dale Hardiman and Tom Skeehan
2017 Australian Furniture Design Award (Travelling Exhibition – Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney)
2015 Tent London, Australian Pavilion
2013-16, 19 Fringe Furniture
2014-16 Vivid Emerging Design Showcase
2016 ID Independent Design, Den Fair
2015 ACE Emerging Design, Furnitex
2015 Den Fair
2014 Object Future II / Curated by Dale Hardiman and Suzannah Henty
Represented at Gallery Sally Dan Cuthbert, Sydney
Head tutor – ExLab Experimental Design Masters Studio, Melbourne University 2016-2021
Current Vice President, The Victorian Woodworkers Association
Regular contributor, Woodreview Australia
