In Design: None the wiser

Attention to detail is what puts the Other:Wise studio ahead in the interior design game

By ORI J. LENKINSKI
Other Wise (photo credit: Daniel Lailah)
Other Wise
(photo credit: Daniel Lailah)
Looking over The Giraffe, a new product designed and crafted by Roei Kadranel and partner Hili Lazarov’s design studio Other:Wise, the two reminisce about the journey to perfection with this particular item. The Giraffe is a clever twist on a coat rack. With three pointed limbs reaching up from the wooden base, The Giraffe’s dimensions were of prime importance during the production process.
“We got it back from the shop, and it just wasn’t right,” says Lazarov. “We looked at it for hours and couldn’t understand what it was. Everything looked fine, but something was just off. We started to measure every bit of it, every limb, every diameter, length and height. Eventually we realized that the tips of the three arms were just a hair too thick.
That made all the difference.”
“God is in the small things,” adds Kadranel.
Attention to detail is what puts Other:Wise ahead in the design game.
Since opening its doors, Other:Wise has put its interior design stamp on clothing stores, bars, events halls, apartments and offices throughout Israel. Their products have been sold throughout the country to businesses and private customers and have been featured in some of Israel’s most prominent design publications.
Several of their designs are available at Tollman’s. Their interior design work can be seen at the Kitchen Market in the Tel Aviv Port, the Clay Spa in Ramat Hahayal and the Marla Singer bar in Petah Tikva, to name a few.
Not only are the partners keen on reading and enhancing the energy of the spaces they encounter, but they are also equipped with sharp perception when it comes to their customers. Even if their chic studio weren’t filled to the brim with charming, innovative, essential pieces for making a house a home or an office a creatively charged center, their enterprise would be well worth a visit. The two designers instantly establish a sense of familiarity with their guests, extending their charisma graciously and happily.
The two met years ago as interior design students at the College of Management and Academic Studies in Rishon Lezion. Post graduation, after a brief exploration of the professional world, Kadranel, 32, and Lazarov, 30, decided to join forces.
At first, they operated out of a rented loft on Eilat Street in south Tel Aviv, which is now Lazarov’s home.
After decorating and redecorating countless times, they felt they had maximized the potential of those four walls and moved farther south to Jaffa. Prior to welcoming its new owners, the Jaffa studio space served as a warehouse for three decades.
“When we first came here, we brought my dad,” says Lazarov. “He thought we were totally crazy. There was so much junk in here, we couldn’t even step through the door. But when we saw that ceiling, we were sold.”
Now they spend their days dreaming up new bits and bobs underneath an original vaulted ceiling just of the Jaffa flea market. “In this location, we get to interact with the street, with the passersby,” says Kadranel.
The space, which conveys their mission as members of the design world, cannot be specifically categorized.
Though it is possible to purchase items off the shelves, Lazarov and Kadranel refuse to call their place a store.
“This is a lab,” says Lazarov. “We tried all kinds of ideas out on this space. It’s our canvas. It’s not a fashion studio or an interior design studio specifically, although fashion and interior design have and will come through here.”
This philosophy is the key to understanding the name Other:Wise. “Our goal is not to be identifiable or distinguishable because of a specific style or form. We don’t do replicas, every space we design is different from every other. We can do vintage one day and robotic the next. It’s never the same,” Lazarov explains.
For the partners, interior design and product development go hand in hand.
Often a specific space can lead to the creation of a product. And, in reverse, Other:Wise products have convinced many a client to hand over the look of their home or business to the partners. For example, the Car:Pleat table, which looks like a bent, suspended Persian rug, was the inspiration for an entire interior design project. “That table is meant to be simple, but its impact was strong,” says Lazarov.
Just as flow in a room is important, so are the support and exchange of ideas between Kadranel and Lazarov.
“We both do everything,” says Kadranel.
“That’s our big success. We sit together, brainstorm together and work on the sketches and the prototypes together. Of course, each of us has our own strengths, but our creative process is fully collaborative. We don’t fight, but we do use a fair amount of self-criticism.
We have a common goal, and we harness our energy to sharpen our brains.” 
Other:Wise is located at 28 Hanina Ben-Dosa Street in Jaffa. For more information, visit www.other-wise.co.il.