The origin of the patented ABDB technique begins in 1987 with Antoine Schapira, who first experimented with the idea of embedding wood in resin to highlight the beauty of the natural tree rings on panels of the furniture he'd create.
It wasn't until around 30 years later that his son, Djivan Schapira, would rediscover his father's older work and develop a fascination with resin while studying architecture at Parsons in New York City. Djivan had spent the last ten years as an apprentice in Antoine's shop, developing the technical skills far beyond his age that in addition to his imagination would be required to develop the technique present today.
Djivan's vision for the technique incorporated several components: first, to be artistic and customizable, in ways that had not yet been seen - by reimagining the end grain as a paintbrush, stylistically embedding the cross-cuts of recycled wood with purpose throughout the resin canvas. Additionally, the resin begins as clear and is hand-pigmented, meaning the color of the piece itself has near unlimited possibilities. Given that each cross-cut of wood is a unique being, each piece by nature is a limited edition.
The second component was to be versatile: the end result of the technique is a thin sheet of resin & wood which can then be applied to nearly any flat or slightly curved surfaces, and then finished in full coats of high gloss or satin epoxy. Examples of how the technique can be applied includes facades, table tops, skateboards, accent panels, tiles, and more.
The third component was to be scalable: a major inspiration to apply for a United States utility patent on this technique was its scalability. The technique is so efficient, once fixed variables (i.e. resin cure time) are removed, one trained production worker can handcraft a finished square foot in about fifteen minutes. This aspect of the technique allows us to compete for large scale commercial projects, have turn-key pricing, and quick lead times.
