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From a family of prominent Brazilian artists and intellectuals in Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Rodrigues took the passion for art and culture that surrounded him and shaped it into a carrer as one the Brazil’s most influential designers. The roots os Rodrigues’ work lie in his use of traditional raw materials such as jacaranda, peroba and imbuia to create icons of Brazilian taste, value and identity.
At the end of forties he, while still in the School of Architecture in Rio, perceived that Brazilian architecture was experiencing a moment of major significance. Just graduated he discovered that the interior of houses and buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer, Lucio Costa and their colleagues did not meet the expectations of the constructions innovative spirit. “They used Colonial style furniture or imported pieces. Furniture was lacking the same national identity achieved in architecture” he recounts.
As Oscar Niemeyer said: “At that time (beginning of Brasília) there was no time to think about designing furniture. We used the furniture available in the market, selecting as to government demands. The major designer I requested for furniture was Sergio Rodrigues.
Simultaneouly to his activities as furniture designer, it is important to highlight his work with interior designing, decoration and scenography. As an interior designer, he cooperated with the most renown Brazilian arquitects and, at his own store OCA, provided consultancy work in the country and abroad, legitimizing interior design in Brazil.
The approximation of design of modern furniture to certain objects of the Brazilian culture, as well as the lack of concern for fashion, emphasized the Brazilian spirit that Sergio Rodrigues so deeply seeks. These two facts were prevalent for the jury decision at the IV Furniture Biennial in Cantu, Italy, 1961, which awarded Sergio with the Sheriff armchair, among 400 candidates from 35 countries. (Texts extracted from the book “SERGIO RODRIGUES” by Maria Cecilia Loschiavo, philosopher, Brazilian furniture researcher and teacher at FAUSP College).
Click here to see some pieces by Sergio
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