Arksmith is a furniture manufacturing company that takes inspiration from the scriptural narrative of the Ark, a vessel built to withstand the cataclysmic flood and sustain life for a world made new. At its heart is the passion to build great and lasting things for spaces with great purposes—things made with the home-grown heart of a company built from the backyard up, the rich soul of a proud Pampango tradition, and all the boldness and sleekness the modern world offers.
Arksmith traces its heritage back to the Post-Pinatubo Era in Pampanga. The fiery cataclysm reshaped life in the province and in the entire Central Luzon region. The manufacturing sector sustained heavy damage, and the furniture industry was among the hardest hit.
In its aftermath, established manufacturers moved to nearby provinces like Tarlac, teaching the craft as they practiced it with the uninitiated, in effect giving birth to cottage or backyard furniture businesses. The craft sustained entire communities where furniture subcontracting soon became the primary source of income. It shaped lives as young children learned the craft as an integral part of Kapampangan childhood, where it served as a rite of passage. The craft grew and thrived again—but not for long.
The second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century could not extinguish Pampanga’s furniture craft and industry, but the realities of a global economy in the 21st century just might. As demand for mass-produced items grew, big firms started to commercialize and shift production to cheaper locales like China. Times were changing. Furniture craftsmanship, culture, and tradition were on the decline.
This is the landscape in which Ruwayna Alqaseer – del Rosario and Glenn del Rosario, founders of Arksmith, were looking at — the landscape they would later seek to shape and fashion along their vision.
