Incollect Magazine - Issue 3

Issue 3 84 www.incollect.com The designs themselves are also unique: in general, Brazilian mid-century furniture tends towards “a comfortable and relaxed but elegant aesthetic, based on simplicity and at the same time with a timeless artistic quality,” says Carolina Alcantara from Herança Cultural Design Art Gallery in São Paulo, one of the most important galleries in Brazil for design. It is also handmade, for the most part, she points out, partly because the materials were rare and expensive and partly because the industrial manufacturing processes required to mass produce furniture were not in place at this time. There are many great names in Brazilian modern design, but the Portuguese-born Joaquim Tenreiro (1906–1992), a designer, carpenter and sculptor, was a pioneer in the business. He made everything by hand, working with a range of colored Light filters through the louvered skylight ceiling in a spectacular Sao Paulo residence by Studio Mellone, where a pair of lush “Curva” club chairs designed by Joaquim Tenriero, circa 1960s, invite relaxation. Photo: Fran Parente