A Global Partnership – Volta by Dowel Jones and RIES

Australian design brand Dowel Jones has partnered with Argentinian studio RIES to create their first collection together – Volta.

After first meeting in New York in 2018, Dowel Jones founders Dale Hardiman and Adam Lynch partnered with Marcos Altgelt and Tasio Picollo, founders of RIES, to create a contemporary collection of furnishings. Inspired by both companies’ commitment to manufacturing and producing products locally, the collection is an extension of the two brands’ shared values of excellent quality and sleek design.

Inspired by both companies’ commitment to locally manufacturing and producing products, the collection is an extension of the two brands’ shared values of excellent quality and sleek design.

Founded in 2014, Dowel Jones is an Australian design brand with an emphasis on producing locally manufactured furniture, accessories and lighting. The multi-award-winning studio humbly began as a small furniture design workshop; Dowel Jones now stands as a global business, with products featured in residential interiors around the world. Recently, the studio’s work ‘Never grow up, bench’ was acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria as part of a permanent collection. The collaboration with RIES comes as a natural step in the brand’s global outlook and part of an organic evolution as a frontrunning Australian design studio.

RIES is a studio based in Buenos Aires, founded in 2016, with the aim of producing contemporary products, furniture design and, on a small scale, residential and commercial interiors. Influenced by a background in industrial design and architecture, RIES explores products that experiment with material, with a focus on exceptional craft and a need to elevate the routine of day-to-day living. Through a wide-ranging scope and the creation of a diverse number of products with unique capabilities, the studio balances the complexities of contemporary elements at play and modern chic aesthetics. With work showcased from New York to Venice to Brussels, RIES continues to be a pioneer in furniture, art and design spaces.

Using the sixth chair in the project, Dowel Jones and RIES spent 18 months further developing the collection, eventually landing on incorporating a Dowel Jones style tubular frame, which was perfectly harmonised by RIES’s detailing and form.

From local to global, Volta is a statement collection by Dowel Jones and RIES, consisting of a dining chair, bar chair, coffee table, bar stool and low stool. Volta is launched in black and brass and paired with Kvadrat upholstery in Melange Nap autumnal colours. The collection will soon be available in hundreds of textile and several timber options, as well as several of Dowel Jones’s large selection of colours.

Originally sparked by a RIES project called Diez Sillas (Ten Chairs), Volta is a balanced unity of the two brands. In the Diez Sillas project, RIES had designed and made 10 chairs from waste materials over two days. Using the sixth chair in the project, Dowel Jones and RIES spent 18 months further developing the collection, eventually landing on incorporating a Dowel Jones style tubular frame, which was perfectly harmonised by RIES’s detailing and form. As both companies manufacture in the southern hemisphere, it seemed natural for the brands to connect as a global partnership. Collaborations between the two design brands are in discussion for the future.