Brazilian Furniture Design: Between Scandinavian Modernism and Italian Radical Design

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the ways in which the designs of Sergio Rodrigues can be comprehended within two European design movements: the Danish Modern, between 1940’s and the 1960’s, and the Italian Radical Design movement between 1966 and 1972. The research aims to answer the following question: ‘How do the chairs designed by Sérgio Rodrigues in the 1950’s and 1960’s express Brasilidade [Brazilianness] while contributing to international furniture design?’. The goal is to provide new insights on the the possible ways in which Rodrigues’ production was influenced by Danish Modern design, through a case study on the Chifruda armchair (1962), and how it subsequently impacted Italian Radical Design, through a case study on the Mole/Sheriff/Moleca armchair (1957/61/63). The rhetorics of design defined by Buchanan, which comprises technological reasoning, emotion, and character, is used as a framework to establish such comparisons. For each of the three aspects mentioned, one chair from the Danish Modern and the Radical Design are compared with the Chifruda and the Mole armchair, respectively. Apart from the case studies, the research methods include a document survey placed within the field of art and furniture design. The results show that Sergio Rodrigues did not only play a central role in shaping the national identity, also referred to as Brasilidade, in furniture design, but also contributed to the establishment of international furniture design trends.