Design Master: Sergio Rodrigues' Playful Furniture
Reissued Chifruda chairs and two new U.S. retail shops spur renewed interest in the work of Brazilian modern design master Sergio Rodrigues
Last month, Espasso opened a retail shop in West Hollywood, California, featuring a full range of Brazilian design master Sergio Rodrigues' furniture designs. Espasso founder and curator Carlos Junqueira, Rodrigues' close friend, is thrilled to be part of the renewed interest in Rodrigues' work, adding that the designer is responsible for creating a "distinctly Brazilian midcentury modern design vocabulary" that favors a more relaxed and playful aesthetic. Espasso is the only retail space dedicated to showcasing and selling reissues of Rodrigues’ chairs, chests, lamps and tables.
In a
">video interview, Rodrigues says his home is "full of prototypes," adding that he "takes chairs home to see if they work well, if [his] wife likes them." He recalls that in the Bauhaus era, the cats and dogs would "climb up on chairs and slip right off," but playfully adds that in his house today, the pets sit comfortably.In a
The immense interest in Rodrigues' work and its preservation is in part due to a world that adores Brazil's famous supermodels, soccer stars and musicians, and because of the general curiosity about Brazilian culture and modern design. Says Junqueira, "Even Brazilians are just now looking at their own cultural production in a more historical way."
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The interest in producing a limited number of reissued Chifruda chairs was spurred when the original prototype showed up in a Rio de Janeiro pawn shop in 2010, after which Espasso and Rodrigues agreed to develop a 40-piece re-edition; 20 of the pieces have sold.
Rodrigues, seen here, sits in his Chifruda, which translates to "cuckolded one" in Portuguese. For Rodrigues, designing spaces and furniture is something "in his blood" and the very thing that keeps him active. "If I weren't an architect, I would be sitting," he says. "Sleeping. Listening to other people tell stories."
Rodrigues, seen here, sits in his Chifruda, which translates to "cuckolded one" in Portuguese. For Rodrigues, designing spaces and furniture is something "in his blood" and the very thing that keeps him active. "If I weren't an architect, I would be sitting," he says. "Sleeping. Listening to other people tell stories."
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This image shows a rear view of the Chifruda, which highlights the parabolic "horns" of the chair's headrest.
Rodrigues says he is his own client: "I make what I like. I shut myself off to any trend so I can really have fun in the chair."
Rodrigues says he is his own client: "I make what I like. I shut myself off to any trend so I can really have fun in the chair."
by Marco Antunio
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In this splashy urban shack, Brazilian interior designer and architect Fabio Galeazzo throws more curves into a living room already filled with arches and circles with his inclusion of a Chifruda chair. The shack's eclectic, relaxed aesthetic is the perfect backdrop for the iconic piece.
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"The most iconic Rodrigues furniture piece is the Mole armchair," Junqueira says. (It's seen here with an ottoman.) Robust, soft and exaggerated in size and appearance, the Mole leather armchair sparked an international design trend of oversize chairs favoring comfort in design in 1961 — before La-Z-Boy sofas and armchairs became popular.
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Actress Kim Novak was captured reclining in this picture during a visit to Rodrigues' design firm in Brazil, Oca Industries.
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Seen here is the Oscar armchair, named after city planner and architect Oscar Niemeyer, whose buildings brought modernism to Brazil.
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This curvy midcentury stool sports a small hole, a signature of many of Rodrigues' furniture designs. "I very much enjoy holes," says Rodrigues, who has incorporated holes in other furniture pieces, like the Katita, Sonia, Chifruda and Xibô. The hole in this milking stool makes for easy carrying.
More:
Modern Icons: Alvar Aalto's Warm, Modern Furnishings
Modern Icons: Alexander Girard's Splashy Textiles
More:
Modern Icons: Alvar Aalto's Warm, Modern Furnishings
Modern Icons: Alexander Girard's Splashy Textiles
Ideabook published on May 5, 2012.
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