As mid-century Brazilian furniture been discovered and no longer considered the last largely unknown modernist design, Brazil’s contemporary design has been flourished. Just as the pioneers of modernism who utilized local materials, and particularly rich and textured hardwoods to achieved design which was not only full of grace, but also represented Brazilian identity, so those working in Brazil today carefully use the local materials in the process of achieving contemporary design of a unique Brazilian character. São-Paulo-based designer Tiago Curioni has recently created such an example. Like the Campana Brothers who have come to the international spotlight with design crafted of local and available materials, so Curioni’s armchair, called Savannah, is crafted from local wicker branches, the natural material so familiar to all Brazilians. The wicker is bent, shaped in water, and once dried all the branches are glued together one by one, forming a dramatic, armchair. While the material has been widely utilized in Brazil during the 70s and 80s, the form is totally new and full of 21st-century contents. Poetic, it is reminding a bush, growing from an enormous trunk set in the open field.
