How would you describe your personal style?
Utilitarian and simple. Clothes I can work in, move easily, and not be afraid to get dirty. —Aaron
Refined, polished, playful. —Irisa
Do you remember the first thing you made?
A cardboard spaceship with an improvised toy inside to make it light up and vibrate. —Aaron
Pinched clay birds with my grandpa. —Irisa
Before I stared making, I…
Make coffee. —Aaron
Stretch. —Irisa
If I weren’t a maker, I’d be…
A landscaper. —Aaron
A dancer. —Irisa
Favorite flower or tree?
The Cerissa tree in bonsai form. I have one that blooms tiny pink flowers all year long. —Aaron Maple tree varieties, especially Japanese maples. —Irisa
What is the most challenging project you have worked on? Why? Our first lamp—not in the making or designing of it but the entire process it took for us to figure out how to work together without butting heads. Since we went to the same college and were trained in the same background, we had to lean into our individual styles and trust each other’s differences as strengths deeply. That process took us years to grow into and the moment we knew we could work well together was in the making of our first light that ended becoming the Souvenir Floor Lamp.
Best piece of advice you have ever received? “Keep going.”
Favorite time of day? Mornings. Both slow mornings when we have coffee and walk to the park, and active mornings when we go to our local shala to do our Ashtanga yoga practice. We love doing something completely unrelated to work that’s enriching or relaxing, before we head into the studio and start work.
What is your favorite family tradition? It’s slightly offbeat for the rest of our extended family, but we love attending an annual silent meditation retreat as a duo. It’s usually in nature, away from the city, and among locals and practitioners at different places in their personal life and spiritual journey. We’ve been going every summer for the past 5 years.
How do you stay creative and inspired?
Gardening, taking walks, being quiet, observing. —Aaron
Being in nature. Practicing yoga and meditation. Reading fiction. —Irisa
What is your favorite aspect of your job?
Working with my life partner, having no separation between domestic and professional. —Aaron
Being able to work with my hands and experiment with materials. —Irisa
What’s the weirdest thing a client has ever asked you? Asking us to recreate a famous design.
What’s your design pet peeve?
Fake joinery, arbitrary ornament, overly stylized features. Garish, saturated color palettes without earth tones.
What’s a new hobby/skill that you have learned recently?
Training our cats to “high five” and “paw”. —Aaron
How to play mahjong. —Irisa
To see more from Kawabi visit, FAIR Design.
