SwankyRetro: Lindo maravilhoso! The designs of Sergio Rodrigues

Since Brazil will be hosting the 2016 Olympics, we here at Swanky Retro thought it would be appropriate to highlight the designs of Sergio Rodrigues. We recently bought a couple of his pieces and the more we learn about him, the more respect and admiration we have for his creative aesthetic!

Sergio Rodrigues (b. 1927) is a Brazilian architect-turned-furniture-designer and a highly collectable mid-century master. His designs were of central importance to the establishment of a Brazilian identity in the modern world.

Having graduated from the School of Architecture and Urbanism in Rio de Janeiro in 1952, Rodrigues founded his own studio, Oca Industries, in ’56. Oca, which means “native indian hut,” began as a studio of interior design, decoration and set design, and an art gallery and showroom for Sergio Rodrigues’ furniture.[1]

Rodrigues was able to capture aspects of “Indigenous Brazil” in his furniture designs. This was an important time in the modernization of Brazil as the country was experiencing rapid economic growth under president Juscelino Kubitschek (1956-’61).

However, creativity began getting stifled following the military coup of ’64 and years of crippling debt and inflation. “It was a dark time for everyone connected to the arts,” says Rodrigues. “They [the regime] did not have the slightest interest in culture. They didn’t realize what they had.”[2] Many important pieces of Brazilian culture were lost or destroyed.

One of Rodrigues’ most famous designs is the Sheriff chair (or Mole chair). Its informal appearance and slouchingly casual look are very inviting. The leather cushions and support straps make it feel like you are sitting in an upholstered hammock-like basket.

Photo credit: modern-furniture.de

In 1961 the Sheriff chair won the Concorso Internazionale del Mobile first prize at the Furniture Biennial in Cantu, Italy.[3]

Rodrigues has been very productive throughout his life designing more than 1200 different furniture models. Since the 1980s, younger architects and designers have picked up where the old masters left off, continuing the spirit and character of the mid-century masters like Rodrigues.

Rodrigues’ 1962 designed Chifruda chair was revived in 2009 (see picture below), and some of his pieces are still being made today.[4] The Museum of Modern Art also has a Sheriff chair on permanent display.