{"id":5740,"date":"2025-12-30T20:46:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T19:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bensariworkshop.com\/podsumowanie-roku-2025-w-bensari-workshop\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T19:22:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:22:04","slug":"podsumowanie-roku-2025-w-bensari-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bensariworkshop.com\/en\/podsumowanie-roku-2025-w-bensari-workshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Summary of 2025 at Bensari Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Traditional woodworking as a contemporary practice<\/h2>\nThe year 2025 was, for me and for Bensari Workshop<\/strong>, a period of intensive yet deeply satisfying work. This year clearly demonstrated that traditional woodworking is not a reconstruction of the past – it functions as a fully valid, practical working method<\/strong>, grounded in proven structural solutions and a conscious selection of techniques.\n\nBensari Workshop is a woodworking studio based in Wroc\u0142aw, where I design and build furniture on a daily basis, while also teaching woodworking techniques used in real workshop practice. It is a small studio, yet internationally recognised and respected for its uncompromising approach to quality and design. This is a place of real practice – without shortcuts, simplifications, or work detached from actual woodworking processes.\n\n

Collectible furniture<\/h2>\nMy work operates primarily within the international collectible design market<\/strong>. I am represented by the New York gallery STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN<\/strong>, and the majority of the furniture I produce is commissioned by international clients<\/strong>. As a result, my projects find their place in private collections and exceptional architectural spaces outside Poland. One such location is the Watergate Complex<\/strong> in Washington, DC – an iconic modernist landmark where our audio cabinet from the Chameleon collection was installed.\n\n
\n
\"Tom
Audio cabinet made at Bensari Workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\nIn Poland, our objects became part of the Avenarius House on Saska K\u0119pa in Warsaw, joining the collection of the Borowik Foundation<\/a>. This is a place where architectural tradition meets a living, critical reflection on the contemporary world. The fact that my work has become part of this collection and this space is, for me, a particular distinction and one of the key moments of the past year.\n\n

Scale of work and quality of execution<\/h2>\nIn 2025, 6 original collectible furniture pieces and 1 custom piece commissioned by a designer<\/strong> were created in our workshop. Is that a lot? No. And I believe that this is precisely the point of my work.\n\nEach of these objects was designed and made entirely in this workshop – from the first sketch to the final detail – using classical woodworking techniques: mortise and tenon joints, dovetails, frame and panel construction, traditional veneering, and wood bending. In the workshop, we do not use prefabricated components or compromises<\/strong> – every element is made in-house, under full control of the process, and the execution of a single piece takes several months.\n\nThis scale of production is a source of pride<\/strong> for me. I consciously do not work for quantity. I focus on quality, precision, and the internal coherence of each object. I create furniture aligned with the idea of quiet luxury<\/strong> – pieces that do not shout through form or colour, but stand their ground through exceptional design and craftsmanship. Despite a zero marketing budget, these objects find their way into the hands of renowned interior designers and discerning collectors.\n\nThese are pieces worth waiting for. Clients commit to this process knowing that, in return, they will receive a unique collectible object<\/strong>, handmade, uncompromising, and executed with full respect for the material. Such work requires time – and it is precisely this time that gives these pieces a value that cannot be replicated.\n\nAlongside furniture production, we also designed and built our own tools, workbenches, and workshop furniture<\/strong>, intended for long-term, intensive use. I consider this a professional standard – if something is meant to serve craftsmanship, it must be made according to the rules of the craft and designed for real, everyday use.\n\n

Woodworking courses and craft education<\/h2>\n

Woodworking courses at Bensari Workshop<\/h3>\nDriven by the idea of building the best woodworking school in this part of Europe, in 2025 I organised nearly 40 woodworking courses<\/a><\/strong> – ranging from hand tool work to structural techniques used in furniture making and conservation. This is an intensive programme based on the same techniques I use daily in my design and making practice. I must admit that a hidden goal of this school is to educate my successors, especially given that vocational education in our country has long since moved away from this form of craftsmanship.\n\nImportantly, nearly 80% of course participants come from outside Wroc\u0142aw and the region<\/strong>, and increasingly also from outside Poland. Bensari Workshop attracts participants from across Europe, who regard the studio as a significant point on the map of contemporary craft education<\/strong>.\n\n
\"Tom
Learning dovetail joinery during a woodworking course at Bensari Workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nThis reach is no coincidence. It results from the unique character of the workshop<\/strong>, a practical teaching model, and the recognition gained through my professional work, presence in the international collectible design scene, and educational activity. The workshop has also become an inspiration for many people – not only the young – who, in searching for their professional path, have found real meaning in learning a craft. There are still far too few such examples.\n\nCourses at Bensari Workshop are not demonstrations or reconstructions – they are real workshop work, based on the same processes I apply in furniture making and special projects.\n\nFor participants, travelling to the workshop in Wroc\u0142aw is a conscious decision to invest in knowledge and skills that cannot be acquired locally or remotely. It confirms that traditional craftsmanship, when taught honestly and practically, has real relevance on a European scale today<\/strong>. Learning at Bensari Workshop is such a distinctive experience that travel – even from abroad – becomes a secondary matter.\n\n

International education – Erasmus+ and students from France<\/h3>\nIn 2025, I hosted students from France for three weeks at Bensari Workshop – members of Les Compagnons du Devoir<\/strong>, one of the most respected craft education institutions in Europe. Their presence was part of an international educational exchange and took a fully practical form.\n\nThe students worked within the normal workshop rhythm, participating in the entire woodworking process – from structural analysis and material preparation, through joinery, to finishing work. We worked with the same techniques I use daily in furniture making – without simplifications or staged demonstrations.\n\n
\"Compagnons
Students from Compagnons du Devoir at Bensari Workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nFor me, this experience was a significant distinction, as it demonstrated that Bensari Workshop operates as a place of dialogue between European craft traditions<\/strong>, and that a teaching model based on real workshop practice is both understandable and valuable, even for students coming from such a strong educational background as Les Compagnons du Devoir.\n\n

Internships and learning the trade in a real environment<\/h3>\nAn important element of the past year was also the internship of Rafa\u0142 Wojciechowski<\/strong>, which clearly illustrates the value of learning a trade in a real craft environment<\/strong>. An internship at the workshop is not about observation or auxiliary work, but about gradually entering the full woodworking process – from material and structural decisions to responsibility for detail and execution quality.\n\nAs a structural engineer, Rafa\u0142 confronted his previous technical experience with the practice of traditional woodworking, learning to think about furniture not only as a functional object, but as a structure that requires time, precision, and consistency. This learning model – based on daily work alongside a master<\/strong>, on creating real objects, through courses and special projects – allows craftsmanship to be understood as a profession rather than a set of techniques.\n\n
\"Intern
Rafa\u0142 Wojciechowski with a piece of furniture made during his internship at Bensari Workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nThe internships I organise each year are treated as a process in which knowledge is not declared, but emerges through practice, repetition, and the gradual assumption of responsibility. This approach – now rare, yet still essential to craft quality – provides a solid foundation for further professional development and conscious work with material.\n\n

Special projects and craftsmanship in the service of culture<\/h2>\nThe year 2025 also brought projects extending beyond classic furniture making. We co-created wooden components for the reconstruction of a late 16th century astrolabe<\/strong> – an astronomical measuring instrument used in navigation – designed by Zacharias Bornmann, a historical resident of Wroc\u0142aw. This work required high precision, strict geometric dependencies, and material control at every stage.\n\nAnother valuable experience was working on the conservation of organs at the National Forum of Music<\/strong> and the restoration of historic organs in several Lower Silesian churches<\/strong>, carried out in cooperation with Atelier Organmistrza Andrzeja Lecha Kriese<\/strong>. In these projects, traditional woodworking techniques were a real condition for durability and fidelity to the original construction.\n\n

Media presence and publications<\/h2>\nThe year 2025 brought significant media exposure for both myself and Bensari Workshop<\/strong>, resulting from ongoing design, making, and educational work. Media became a space in which specific projects and ideas could resonate within a broader context of architecture, design, and material culture.\n\nThe most important media event of the year was the international coverage of the Watergate Complex apartment project<\/strong> in Washington, DC, designed by Nicholas Potts, which featured an audio cabinet made in our workshop in collaboration with Wroc\u0142aw-based artist Roland Grabkowski. The project was featured by:\n\nArchitectural Digest<\/strong>\n