Artist Sergio Rodrigues designs an environment for a luxury apartment in Rio de Janeiro.
Study by furniture designer Sergio Rodrigues.
43 cm x 30 cm.
No information about the date.
Average state of conservation, the design needs to be restored.
Unique piece.
We already know that Brazil is known worldwide for its music. There are also many painters born in Brazil who have gained notoriety around the world, and even in architecture, national names are studied at universities around the world. However, not everyone knows that Brazilian artists are also renowned worldwide in design. This is the case of Sérgio Rodrigues, a designer whose pieces were chosen by Lúcio Costa to furnish Brasília, no less. Rodrigues also won awards in several countries and transformed the concept of design in his time.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1927, at the age of 20 Sérgio enrolled in the architecture faculty of the University of Brazil (FNA), in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The student prodigy began working as an assistant professor before even finishing his degree, and in 1951 he received an invitation to participate in the design of the Civic Center of Curitiba, which is why he moved to the city where he created “Móveis Artesanal Paranaense”. This was the beginning of his work focused on creating interior architecture, which would mark his career from that moment on. In the following years, Sérgio delved deeper into the art of furniture and met renowned European designers who influenced the elegance of his style without, however, ever distancing him from his Brazilian roots.
Sérgio developed his own style that, in addition to winning numerous awards, created a national identity, strongly influenced by modernism. Brazilianness was highlighted not only in his designs, but also in the choice of traditionally local materials, such as leather, straw and wood, which exalted Brazilian culture from its indigenous origins. The mix of international and native trends can be seen in the visual study done by Sérgio, in which a photo and a drawing complement each other, highlighting traditional elements and ochre tones typical of local materials.
The most famous work of this great artist is the “soft armchair”, made of leather and wood. His innovations in fitting and upholstery are a reference in the industry to this day, and the original armchair is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. With a variation of this design, Sérgio received first prize at the Concurso Internazionale del Mobile, in Cantù, Italy, a moment that launched his career internationally. Even so, Rodrigues never forgot Brazil, and proof of this is that years later he opened a studio in Rio de Janeiro with the goal of selling furniture at affordable prices, bringing design within the reach of the population.
Here we have an illustration of a great Brazilian name that leveraged Brazilian art and culture to a prominent position within the international scene.
