Follow
SIDE GALLERY Archives collects, preserves and makes available historical records relating to the history of Latin American design of the twentieth century, holding an important and extensive collection of materials dedicated to furniture design.
The archival library embodies photographs, essays, publications, interviews, letters, drawings, advertisements and original graphics among other resources, which have been essential to the gallery’s discovery and understanding of its designers as well as their historical context.
As well as playing a central role in the gallery’s identity and serving as a complement to the collection of furniture the gallery showcases, the preservation of Side Gallery Archives is a seminal part of an ongoing project to make available historical documents which are fundamental to the investigation into the development of design in the different countries that constitute Latin America during the past century. The materials also reveal the relationship and interconnections that emerged between those countries and Europe, especially in Italy and Spain.
It is important to note the lack of monographic publications based on these topics, determining archival materials most of the times as the only source of documentation for certain designers, works and manufacturers of the period, heightening the importance of the compilation of these informal records.
Through our online archival program, Side Gallery is committed to the creation of an online design community, sharing and exchanging information and materials with collectors, institutions, museums, educators and students as well as independent individuals, to enrich the knowledge of the design world as whole on the fascinating and still undiscovered topic of Latin American Design.
Cover of the french magzine “La Maison” featuring a chair by Gónzalo Córdoba in 1967.
In 1967 cuban designer Gonzalo Córdoba, met Steph Simon, the acclaimed gallery owner in Paris selling Jean Prouve, Isamu Noguchi or Charlotte Perriand. Steph Simon took the risk of exhibiting objects of Cuban designers, in wood and marble, to surprise the Paris art scene, resulting in a complete success in terms of sales. This motivated Mr. Córdoba to continue working with the Parisian gallery and modestly introduce his work to certain areas of the European market.
La Ricarda, El Prat de Llobregat (Spain), 1953 by Antoni Bonet Castellana.
Designed by the architect Antonio Bonet, in close collaboration with the owner Ricardo Gomis and his wife Inés Bertrand Mata, the Gomis house, better known as La Ricarda, is perhaps his most emblematic works and in architectural terms the best example of Catalan Rationalism. It's construction is a continuation of the work carried out by the architect in Punta Ballena, Uruguay, with the Berlingieri House, where the coherent use of the structure formed by pillars and Catalan vault gives rise to spaces of great depth and transparency.
Armchair model “Toro” (iron version) by Miguel Fisac, manufactured by Darro, Madrid 1950
This armchair was designed for the Goerres Foundation library, Serrano Street, 117, Madrid, of the C.S.I.C. (Higher Council for Scientific Research), inaugurated in 1948, and is part of the large set of furniture that the architect devised for this space (stools, chairs, tables of different types, shelves, etc.).
Chair by Roberto Sebastián Matta, manufactured by Alessandro Palma, Italy 1970.
Roberto Sebastian Matta, who initially trained as an architect in his native Santiago(Chile), is best known as an abstract expressionist and surrealist painter. After completing his studies and moving to Paris, he worked briefly in the studio of famed architect Le Corbusier. His interests soon moved towards painting and he joined the circles of Salvador Dali, André Breton, and René Magritte. Matta later met Dino Gavina, who invited the painter to design a piece of furniture for Gavina, continuing after with the famous anthropomorphic wooden chairs he created during the 70s.
Penthouse Apartment of Le Corbuiser, Paris, (France), 1999.
In 1931 Le Corbuiser designed an apartment building with a Penthouse on rue Nungesser-et-Coli, in Paris for himself and his wife, where they lived until 1965. In the image we see the entrance hall to the studio apartment defined by polychromy and a sweeping staircase, characteristics common to Le Corbusier. The apartment has four parts to it, all served by this entrance way. In 2016 the Le Corbuiser Foundation restored the apartment.
The Ministry of Education, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil) 1943 by Oscar Niemeyer
In 1936 Niemeyer joined a team of architects including Le Corbuiser and Lúcio Costa to design the headquarters of the ministry of education and healthin the center of Rio de Janeiro. The building was the first modernist project in Brazil. In the image we see the interior Lobby of the building, typical of Niemeyer’s interiors the space is defined by structural curves and a large glass window. At the far end of the image we see a sculpture by Alfredo Ceschiatti standing in front of a wooden paneled wall a further feature common to Niemeyer’s work as seen in the dining room of his own home, Casa Das Canoas.
Casa e Jardim magazine with furnitures by Martin Eisler and Carlo Hauner, Brazil 1957.
In 1953 Carlo Hauner met Martin Eisler, who was looking for help to produce furniture for the home of his brother-in-law, Ernesto Wolf. The two men connected and with Wolf’s financial backing, they opened Galeria Artesanal (a store to their company Móveis Artesenal) on a busy street in São Paulo.
Being highly ambitious and with an eye on the international market as well as the upcoming office market, Móvies Artesanal later changed into Forma, becaming one of the biggest names in Brazilian furniture production.
Villa Borsani, Varedo, Italy 1945 by Osvaldo Borsani.
On the occasion of the Salone de Mobile 2018, Villa Borsani the home of the architect and designer Osvaldo Borsani was opened to the public. The project was a special exception in light of the upcoming Osvaldo Borsani exhibit at the Triennale di Milano.
Interior Image Casa e Jardim Magazine, Brazil, 1950, featuring Joaquim Tenreiro
Casa e Jardim magazine with furnitures by Joaquim Tenreiro and a floor lamp model 1034 by Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce.
Desk by Clara Porset for DM Nacional, Mexico 1960.
A pioneer of industrial design in Mexico, Clara Porset studied architecture in France and the United States, where she met such figures as Henri Rapin and Walter Gropius. Her work designing office furniture for Empresas Ruíz Galindo and DM Nacional shows her ability to create functional and durable steel furniture.
Printed advertisement from Tenreiro Moveis e Decoraçoes store in Rio de Janeiro.
The opening of the first store of Joaquim Tenreiro in Rio de Janeiro in 1947 was a real success. Wealthy Brazilian families arranged would meet in the store's pleasant and well-decorated space, surrounded with elegant furniture made with the most exquisite materials and master craftsmanship. Some years after Tenreiro also opened a second store in Sao Paulo.
"Sillón tipo Orejera con apoya pie", Caracas, 1957, Cornelis Zitman.
The Tecoteca style was influenced by functionalism. Before, colonial leather and semi-leather furniture predominated in Venezuela. “Our idea was to make furniture that is functional, less pretentious and allow for it to occupy small spaces. We wanted to make them for the masses, however, the cost-production-sale to the public was lousy, because the manufacturing cost was so high, with a minimal profit margin," recalls Zitman.
Brazilian interior with furniture by Martin Eisler and Carlos Hauner manufactured by Forma, Brasil, 1950.
Martin Eisler and Carlos Hauner worked in the height of the Mid-Century Modern period. Their pieces were made with sleek lines, fruitful curves and beautifully crafted. They used many local exotic woods like jacaranda and caviona, but they also experimented with black lacquered wood, reverse painted glass, glass, bronze and cane materials.
MF5 Lounge Chair, São Paulo, 1953, Branco e Preto.
In December 1952 Branco e Preto opened their first store on Avenue Vieira de Carvalho, in São Paulo. In the image we see the prototype of the MF5 lounge chair designed in 1953 by the store’s design team. The chair is made in jacaranda with an upholstered and cane back.
Furniture for the Multifamiliar Miguel Alemán House, México DF, 1949, Clara Porset.
The furniture designed by Clara Porset sought to maintain, to some extent, the popular character. She used raw materials, fabrics or reinterpretations of traditional furniture, and fabrics applied to the seats and backs of the chairs. However, despite these actions, the experiment had an unfavorable result. This furniture was proposed as a replacement for the old furniture that residents already owned. The new residents of cupa resisted the new concept of furniture. This furniture was proposed as a replacement for the old furniture that residents already owned.
Residence of Pailo Emilio Sales Gomes, São Paulo, (Brazil) 1954, Brazilian Design
In the year 1954 the Brazailian furniture corporative Unilabor was founded by Gerlado De Barros and Dominican Priest Frei João. In the same year, the film critic and historian Paulo Emilio Sales Gomes commissioned Unilabor’s first furniture order. In the image we see the living room of Sales Gomes’s São Paulo residence, with early examples of Unilabor furniture.
Personatge a dins el bosc, Kyoto Modern Art Museum, 1973, Aurelia Muñoz.
A characteristic that is particularly definitive of Aurelia Muñoz's work is the dye she used. The colors of her tapestries that came from strictly artisan sources. She herself elaborated and worked on them until obtaining peculiar colors, not pure, "exaggerated" as she called them. She was greatly inspired by the characteristic colors of Spanish art in its Romanesque, Gothic and Velazquez orbit .
Bookshelf Model MF 710, São Paulo, (Brazil), 1970, Geraldo De Barros.
In the year 1970 the Brazailian furniture corporative Unilabor founded by Gerlado De Barros, produced the shelving unit Model MF 710. The bookshelf was composed using a system of optional components that allowed for flexibility in the assembling of certain parts, as well as greater choice for the customer when ordering. The Model MF 710 is one of the pieces that best represent the production philosophy of Unilabor. In the image we see the prototype of Model MF 710.
Estructura arbòria, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, 1970's, Aurelia Muñoz.
Her works works are created with textile material, halfway between sculpture and architecture, by this author who investigated and reinterpreted artisan techniques, elevating macramé, patchwork and tapestries to an avant-garde art form.
Gio Ponti's apartment in Via Dezza, Italy, 1950's.
In the picture you can see Gio Ponti in his apartment with his wife and daughter. The apartment in which Gio Ponti lived with his family, from 1957 (his last home), contains all the Pontian inventions in terms of distribution, walls, furniture and objects that appeared during the fifties, and that have originated even earlier.
Brazilian interior furnished with pieces from Unilabor by Geraldo de Barros, Brazil 1954.
In Unilabor, Geraldo de Barros met experienced craftsmen carpenters like Manuel Lopes da Silva and locksmiths like Antonio Thereza, who taught him new specific techniques he did not yet have. Geraldo De Barros was a restless spirit and after a period of working with these skilled workers, he began to design himself, having absorbed new knowledge from the people around him.
Residence of Pailo Emilio Sales Gomes, São Paulo, (Brazil) 1954, Brazilian Design
In the year 1954 the Brazailian furniture corporative Unilabor was founded by Gerlado De Barros and Dominican Priest Frei João. In the same year, the film critic and historian Paulo Emilio Sales Gomes commissioned Unilabor’s first furniture order. In the image we see the living room of Sales Gomes’s São Paulo residence, with early examples of Unilabor furniture.
Jaime Guitérrez Lega home, Bogotá.
The workshop house - as Guitérrez Lega called it - was a rational home. Each corner meticulously designed to fulfil a function and house an act. "Here nothing is superfluous or in the way," said Gutiérrez Lega.
Jorge Zalszupin Store, São Paulo, 1960's.
In 1960, with enough pieces to fill a showroom, Zalszupin opened his first store in São Paulo. Although his fellow architects did not want to participate because they thought the store would be too expensive, Zalszupin went ahead anyway. However, taking into account the warnings of his friends, he cunningly decided to sublet part of the store to share in the high cost. Unknowingly, this was a huge move because, as a result, many more visitors stopped by his store and had a chance to see his designs. L'atelier became an almost instant hit.
Farmàcia-Perfumeria Arimany, Granollers (Spain), 1984, Jordi Vilanova i Bosch.
Jordi Vilanova Bosch (Barcelona, 1925-1998) was a Catalan interior designer and cabinetmaker who worked during the second half of the 20th century in the city of Barcelona. In 1939 he entered the Escola del Treball i Oficis Artístics y la Llotja. He had excellent workshop training at Casa Busquets and Lluís Gili's decoration workshop, until he created his own interior design and design company in 1952.
Forma Brazil's Advertisement, São Paulo (Brazil), 1950's, Martin Eisler & Carlo Hauner.
Carlo Hauner and Martin Eisler were the main designers of Forma. The international company epitomized the innovation of the Brazilian modern design industry. Working in São Paulo when the city was growing rapidly and at the peak of industrialization gave Eisler and Hauner the opportunity to produce custom furniture. They both shared his appreciation for elevated design and his intention with Forma was to bring style to the Brazilian home. His designs for Forma embodied the elegance of unique works that emerged from the traditional workshops of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in the mid-20th century, but unlike their contemporaries, the personalized production of Eisler and Hauner. They created highly elaborate modern furniture, using rich local materials such as wood, leather and iron, resulting in polished and diverse pieces that were accessible to a wider audience.
Interior of Clara Porset's office on Hamburg street, 1957, Mexico, Clara Porset.
In her texts, Porset reflects on what she calls living design and on how the architect, the interior and furniture designer must be in continuous dialogue, because furniture cannot be a separate thing from architecture. This includes an analysis on how to distribute the furniture within modern architecture so that it is spaced, long-throwing, and widely circulated.
La Solana del Mar, Punta Ballena (Uruguay), 1945, Antoni Bonet, Latin American Design
Between the years of 1945-147 Antoni Bonet was commissioned to commence the urbanization of Punta Ballena, a project that took the form of multi-functional building: a tea room, restaurant and small hotel known as La Solana del Mar. The image shown the original construction, designed to integrate the costal landscape and the building. The building underwent controversial renovations in 2006 and still functions as a Hotel.
Interior in Caracas with furniture from Domus by Michale Van Beuren, Venezuela 1950
Michael van Beuren was born in New York but he moved to Mexico in 1937 where he ventured into the furniture industry and offered Mexican society a new type of design, contemporary in nature and adapting to the modern architecture that was starting to dominate the design society of Latin America. In 1940 Michael van Beuren created Domus a furniture firm that opened its first store at number 40 on Hamburg Street; this company served as an umbrella for various brands that flooded the Mexican market with interesting designs and a much more international and modern approach, leaving behind the “Mexican style” created in the search for an identity national.
Casa Pedregal, México, 1950, Luis Barragan.
"Any work of architecture that does not express serenity is a mistake," said Barragán, a star of the 20th century architectural scene and winner of the 1980 Pritzker Prize. Upon entering the property, his words seem to echo, immediately tangible in the pink of the house. The palette, reveals the architect's predilection for intense and vibrant colours. Even in its grandeur, Casa Pedregal reveals itself little by little: pastel-colored walls, stripes of light that stand out and an aura of peace that emanates. It is as if the metropolitan madness of the afterlife has ceased to exist.
House with Miguel Fisac's furniture, Madrid (Spain), 1960's, Miguel Fisac.
At the back of the photography we can see Miguel Fisac's chairs with the iconic legs 'Pata Gallo' (Chicken Legs). Born in Daimiel in 1913, Miguel Fisac obtained his degree at the School of Architecture of Madrid in 1942. During a trip to Sweden he would discover the works of Gunnar Asplund, which would influence his concept on architecture. Always working with newer materials, his style evolved over time: from abstract classicism he moved towards a greater use of brick, which he would later abandon for concrete, especially pre-stressed concrete, his patented invention. Some of his most emblematic works are from this last period, like the Hydrographical Study Centre or the Jorba Laboratories.
Brazilian Interior with furniture by Martin Eisler and Carlo Hauner, Brazil 1950.
In 1953 Carlo Hauner met Martin Eisler, who was looking for help to produce furniture for the home of his brother-in-law, Ernesto Wolf. The two men connected and with Wolf’s financial backing, they opened Galeria Artesanal (a store to their company Móveis Artesenal) on a busy street in São Paulo. Being highly ambitious and with an eye on the international market as well as the upcoming office market, Móvies Artesanal later changed into Forma, becaming one of the biggest names in Brazilian furniture production.
Clara’s office, Hamburgo Street, Mexico City, Mexico, Clara Porset, Mexican Design
In the 1950s Clara Porset designed the Silla Totonaca (Totonaca Chair). In the image above, we see chair in the office of Porset at Casa Estudio, Hamburgo Street, Mexico City. Porset worked and even taught from her home on Hamburgo Street in the later years of her life.
Azucena Catalogue, 1958, Luigi Caccia Dominioni.
In the catalogue we can see an iconic pair of wall lights model LP10 'Bidone' by Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Italy, 1950s. These wall lights consist of brass structures suspending opaline glass diffusers.
Magazine Advertisement for Movies Z, Brazil, 1950s, Jose Zanine Caldas
An advertisement for the most famous furniture manufacturing company of Jose Zanine Caldas Fábrica de Móveis Artísticos Z, reputable for semi-mass produced furniture made with sinuously shaped plywood.
Furniture for Complex Cataguases, Mina Gerais, Brazil, 1942, Joaquim Tenreiro.
The complex Cataguases, in the eponymous city in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is quite the time capsule of a tropical modernist style predominant in Brazilian mid-century architecture and design. Still in operation, the hotel maintains their original decor, furnished with exquisite classic 1950’s pieces signed by seminal Brazilian mid-century designer Joaquim Tenreiro.
Tecla Tofano in her studio, Caracas, Venezuela, 1960s, Tecla Tofano.
The studio of the ceramicist Tecla Tofano in Caracas in the late 1960s during the second phase, of her career. During this later part of her life she worked in more nontraditional ways, modelling mud and clay to create sculptural forms
Oca for Móduo Magazíne, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil), 1958, Sergio Rodrigues.
In 1955 Sergio Rodrigues opened Oca, a furniture store on the street Jangadeiros in the Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro. In the image we see an advertisement for Oca published by the magazine Móduo in 1961. The shot is taken on Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro by Otto Stupakoff and features Rodrigue’s famous “Vronka” armchair designed and produced in 1958 by Oca.
The above Image features the Pata de Gallo armchair, part of a set of pieces including the chair MADB 135.472, a stool, an armchair and a table, all which boast characteristic legs. The unique form of the legs is based on the design of an Irish milking stool. The outward curve of the shape supports the compression different body weights, while expressing the formal concern of the architect for functional trajectory.
Ceramic Pieces, 1991/1975, Seka.
Daughter of Dragutin Severin and Angela Tolg, Severin Tudja was a ceramist (Zagreb, Yugoslavia, 1923 – Caracas, Venezuela, 2007), from a young age she played with clay, modeled figurines and was determined about what she would study. During her youth, the term ceramics did not exist, and little did she know how her path would be traced in the years to come.
Seka studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (1942-1945) with Frano Krsinic and Krsto Hegedusic. After being awarded a scholarship by the French government (1946-1948), she went to live in Paris where she studied sculpture and drawing at the Academia La Grande Chaumiére and graduated in, Art History and Archaeology at La Sorbonne (1948). During her time in Paris she made figures with the technique of lost wax for film animations.
Chair by Roberto Sebastian Matta in black lacquered metal, 1960 in an interior by french interior designer Pierre Yovanovitch.
Roberto Matta, who was born in Santiago, Chile, studied architecture and interior design at the city’s Catholic University. In 1933, Matta went to work for Le Corbusier in Paris, where he became increasingly interested in painting. On his travels through Peru and Panama in the spring of that year, he made a series of surrealist landscape drawings.
After graduating and serving for a time in the Merchant Marine, Matta traveled through Europe and the USA where he met artists such as Salvador Dalí, André Breton, and Arshile Gorky. Breton in particular was a major influence on Matta, and he introduced Matta to the work of many of the prominent European artists at the time. In 1938, Matta began painting. His “inscape” series was conceived as a visual representation of his inner psyche. His early paintings are associated with biomorphism, utilizing shapes and patterns that are reminiscent of organic forms. He became strongly associated with the Surrealist group of artists, producing illustrations and essays for the Surrealist journal Minotaure.
Chair Vallart, Mexico City, 1970s, Ricardo Legorreta.
A Chair in an Mexican interior by Ricardo Legorreta for Legorreta Arquitectos Diseños S.A. The chair was made in white Oak and woven palm.
Chair model "Miguelito", México, 1940's, Michael Van Beuren.
The San Miguel or San Miguelito side chair is one of Michael Van Beuren’s most successful and representative designs. (Michael van Bueren was referred to as Don Miguel or Don Miguelito in Spanish, from where he took the name.) The chair is a modern interpretation of the traditional butaca, or butaque (commonly referred to as Campeche chair), which was popular in Mexico’s coastal areas since colonial times, including the Yucatan Peninsula and Veracruz. This particular iteration of the San Miguelito chair was likely produced from 1947 to 1960, the period when the bulk of Domus production was manufactured using the more inexpensive Mexican white pine wood (ayacahuite) combined with natural fibers such as woven agave fiber (ixtle) and palm (Ilona Katzew, Curator and Department Head, Latin American Art).
Spanish interior with a pair of armchairs model “Toro” (iron version) by Miguel Fisac, manufactured by Darro, Madrid 1955.
This armchair was designed for the Goerres Foundation library, Serrano Street, 117, Madrid, of the C.S.I.C. (Higher Council for Scientific Research), inaugurated in 1948, and is part of the large set of furniture that the architect devised for this space (stools, chairs, tables of different types, shelves, etc.).
The 10 Ten booth, Los Angeles Modernism Show, 2013, Cynthia Sargent.
The 10 Ten gallery presented in its booth a Cynthia Sargent rug hanging on the wall and a George Nelson sofa. Cynthia Sargent was a very successful mid century textile designer. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the spring of 1922. Cynthia studied dance, painting, block printing and art history with Robert Motherwell, Meyer Schapiro, Joseph Albers and other well known artists of the day. In the early 50's Cynthia and her husband Wendell Riggs emigrated to Mexico, where together they built a legacy of art and design. Cynthia Sargent passed away in 2006, but her work continues to be sought after and enjoyed by many.
Italian interior, Milan, Italy, 1957, Osvaldo Borsani, Italian Design
An Italian interior designed by Osvaldo Borsani. The image features the P40 chair designed by Borsani in 1957 for the XI Triennale by his company Tecno. The chair immediately became popular because it was Designed for, comfort and space optimization, and therefore transformed world of office chairs.
Casa Cerro del Aire. Madrid, 1956. Armchairs model “Toro” by Miguel Fisac manufactured by Taller Carpintería La Navarra, Madrid 1954.
The armchair model “Toro” was designed for the Goerres Foundation library, Serrano Street, 117, Madrid, of the C.S.I.C. (Higher Council for Scientific Research). The armchair is part of a larger set of furniture that the architect devised for his space (stools, chairs, tables of different types, shelves, etc.).
Le Cabanon, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, (France) 1952, Le Corbusier.
In 1952 Le Corbusier designed Le Cabanon on the French Riviera, as a place to work and rest during the summer months. In the image we see the wooden structure, built based on his system of dimensions the Modulor, the total area being 3.66m x 3.66m. Le Corbusier spent every summer there from 1952 until his death in 1965.
Das Canoas House, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil), 1951, Oscar Niemeyer
In 1951 Oscar Niemeyer designed Casa Das Canoas as his family home, in Canoas, Barra de Tijuca, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The house is considered one of the most significant examples of modern architecture in Brazil. In the image we see the interior hall and dining area, designed by Niemeyer himself. The room is characterized by the wall of windows and the view of the subtropical vegetation, creating a space that generates harmony between the interior and exterior environments and emphasizes a sense of belonging in nature.
The Dining room in a sample two-bedroom apartment in the building A of the Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlatelolco, 1964., Michael Van Beuren.
Between 1964 and 1965 Michael Van Beuren furnished the sample apartments that were offered in the new housing complex that at that time stood as a symbol of modernity in the Mexican capital: the Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlatelolco, designed by the architect Mario Pani. The new apartments were advertised as functional and considered tasteful furniture.
Lamp Catalogue, 1940's, Lisa Johansson-Pape.
Lisa Johansson-Pape, a Finnish born designer, enjoyed a lengthy and multidiscipline career in lighting, furniture, textiles, and ceramics. She would become most known for her lighting designs and is now considered one of Finland’s top lighting designers of the 20th century.
Exhibition catalogue, Joaquim Tenreiro at Galeria da IAB Rio de Janeiro, November 1981, published in a limited edition of 300.
A trained painter and cabinetmaker, Joaquim Tenreiro began designing furniture in the 1940s. By 1943 he had started his own furniture design company, opening offices in Rio de Janeiro and Copacabana, and, due to the increasing success of his designs, he opened another shop in 1953 in São Paolo. By the end of the 1950s, Tenreiro was employing about 100 craftsmen to construct his designs.
Pieces in progress, 1950's, Mexico, Clara Porset.
Clara Porset was fascinated and inspired by Mexico's craft traditions, and began looking to traditional forms in order to create designs that would meld modernity with local tradition. Indeed, she is perhaps best known for her variations on the butaque, a low, graceful chair with a long history in Mexico. The recipient of numerous awards and honors within Mexico, she also gained recognition abroad. In 1940 she won a prize in MoMA´s Organic Design for Home Furnishing contest, and in 1946 Artek-Pascoe exhibited and sold her work in New York.
Chairs and Dining Table, Casa A. Boulton, Pampatar, Margarita, 1954, Miguel Arroyo.
Miguel Arroyo (1920-2004) is considered one of the great Venezuelan talents of the 1950s. Countless works can be shown to his credit. This image shows the reproduced catalog from the MoMA exhibtion, MAD and Americas Society. The living room of Alfredo Boulton house in Pampatar, Isla de Margarita (1954) was re-created. In addition to the Arroyo furniture, a work by Alejandro Otero and another by Alexander Calder were arranged in the room.
The ENI – San Donato Milanese Offices, Milan, Italy, 1956, Osvaldo Borsai.
The ENI Palace in San Donato Milanese was designed by Marcello Nizzoli and Mario Olivieri for Enrico Mattei. Mattei had heard of Osvaldo Borsani and was interested in working with him. As a result, the interiors were designed by Borsani. He equipped the offices with wall cabinets and his T96 desk.
Cadeira Dobrável, 1948, Lina Bo Bardi.
Lina Bo Bardi designed the chair featured in this image for the Masp auditorium on Rua Sete de Abril. Inspired by circus chairs, this is considered one of the first modernist chairs in Brazil. The piece is foldable and stackable.
Malitte system, produced by Dino Gavina, Italy 1966 by Roberto Sebastian Matta.
Malitte is a seating system, an ever-changing composition of five polyurethane blocks covered in a slightly elastic fabric. A playful collection of colored interlocking organic shapes that can be assembled into a single sculpture, a “wall” dividing the environment with its formal and conceptual presence, which, when necessary, can instantly become a complete living room: a two-seater sofa, three seats and a pouf.
Communist Party Headquarters, Paris (Brazil) 1969, Oscar Niemeyer
In the year 1967 Oscar Niemeyer was commissioned to design the French communist headquarters on the Place du Colonel Fabien in Paris. In the image we see four of his iconic Alta lounge chairs gather around a coffee table, all designed for the headquarters by Niemeyer and his daughter, Anna Maria, to create a lobby meeting area. The headquarters was not fully completed until 1980.
Interior of Miguel Fisac's house with his own furniture, Madrid, 1957, Miguel Fisac.
Fisac's private house was a pioneer in the modernist movement in the outskirts of Madrid. Today, surrounded by roads, it is a symbol of the regeneration of modern architecture, both in terms of language and the criteria of adaptation to the landscape, as it rises solitary on a platform, modifying the slope. Built around a courtyard with granite masonry walls and metal pillars, on which a thin concrete slab rests, the house grew according to family needs at various times, and always with economic criteria.
Hotel Parco dei Principi, Sorrento, (Italy) 1961, Gio Ponti, Italian Design
In 1961 Gio Ponti designed the Hotel Parco dei Principi in Sorrento. Ponti designed every detail of the hotel from the furniture to the lighting. In the image we see a blue and white geometric tiled wall, this is one of thirty different tiling combinations Ponti used throughout the interiors.
X Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy, 1954, Osvaldo Borsani, Italian Design
The X Triennale di Milano where Osvaldo Borsani presented his P35 chair, along with the T90 desk, and his shelving unit E60.
Armchair model "Neumático" (Floating chair) by Jaime Gutiérrez de Lega, Bogotá (Colombia) 1960s
When Jaime returned to Colombia, he started researching which industries applied design in Colombia, but the only industry where he could focus his profession was in furniture. Then he devised the "Floating Chair", which consisted of a metal rod structure that supported a bright colored rubber seat. "After the concept was born, I went to the Firestone to order three dozen colored tires. The owner explained that this could not be done, because rubber did not hold paint. However, I insisted until the man told me to make a sketch, and he would send it to the parent company in England," Gutiérrez Lega says. "After a while they called me to look for a package: they had sent the 36 rubbers along with a letter congratulating me on the idea, but scolding me because I had put the lab to work hard." The success of the "Floating" chair was so great that they appeared on the front page of a Medellin newspaper.
Casa Berlingieri, Puntaballena (Uruguay), 1947, Antoni Bonet, mid-century modern Latin American Design.
The Barcelona architect Antonio Bonet Castellana built, during the late 1940s, a series of vacation homes in Punta Ballena, Uruguay, in which with limited resources, he developed an interesting research on the language of modern architecture, without giving up the use of traditional materials and techniques. The Berlingieri house is characterized by the systematic use of the flat brick vault "volta a la catalana" which ends up being its main constructive and figurative element, while the floor plan responds, on the other hand, to the strictest canons of the avant-garde modern, both in the idea of dispensing with axiality and symmetry, and in the attempt to work with the notion of dynamic mass balance.
Lina Bo Bardi's furniture in João Vilanova Architect piece, 1940's, Brazil.
Dedicating her life to promoting the social and cultural potential of architecture and design, Brazilian architect and designer Lina Bo Bardi produced varied works: from architectural projects and publications to modern furniture that reflects this spirit. Her furniture was most often made from native Brazilian woods, which she admired for their strength and beauty. Bo Bardi's most iconic design is her upholstered Bowl chair with a metal frame (1951). This chair, like other products she designed, inherited its own natural logic through modular design and generally reflected the adaptive style of the artist. Conceived as an affordable and flexible object capable of blending seamlessly into any surrounding environment, the chair, a combination of bowl and base, could be positioned according to intended performance and function. Effortlessly combining industrialized production with good design, Bo Bardi's chair, like her general practice, was playful and approachable, yet deeply rooted in the history of modernism and design.
Casa Pedregal, México, 1950, Luis Barragan.
"Any work of architecture that does not express serenity is a mistake," said Barragán, a star of the 20th century architectural scene and winner of the 1980 Pritzker Prize. Upon entering the property, his words seem to echo, immediately tangible in the pink of the house. Palette, revealing the architect's predilection for intense and vibrant colors. Even in its grandeur, Casa Pedregal reveals itself little by little: pastel-colored walls, stripes of light that stand out and an aura of peace that emanates. It is as if the metropolitan madness of the afterlife has ceased to exist.
In the back of the pictures we can appreciate one of the iconics Barragan's ceramic lamps that Side Gallery exhibited on Design Miami/Basel 2019.
All the ceramic lamps were the result of a collaboration between Barragán and Hugo X. Velazquez, a ceramist who lived in Cuernavaca. They created many pieces based on popular models that he used for his projects. This kind of lamp can be seen also at Clara Porset’s house in Chimalistac and in the private house of the architect Manuel Parra.
Living room with bar cabinet, Danish line, 1957, Michael van Beuren.
Assembled wood furniture and fabric-covered seat designed by Michael van Beuren for Muebles Domus de Van Beuren, SA. Photograph taken by Freddy van Beuren.
Michael Van Beuren (1911–2004) was born in New York and studied architecture at the Bauhaus under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Josef Albers until its closure in 1933. He moved to Acapulco at the end of 1936, where he oversaw the interiors of the bungalows at the renowned Flamingo Hotel in 1937, and quickly became a formative member of the Mexican Modernism movement.
By 1938, Van Beuren began focusing on furniture design, working with a fellow Bauhaus colleague, Klaus Grabe, to create modern and affordable pieces. Inspired by the local culture and craftsmanship, the duo applied Bauhaus design principles to popular Mexican mainstays, such as woven reclining chaises and wooden dining chairs. Their approach was a success; the pair was one of the winners of a 1941 competition organised by MoMA targeting teams from Latin America called ‘Organic Design for Home Furnishings’, which catapulted them to wide regard.
Miguel Arroyo. Quinta Perla, San Antonio de los Altos (Venezuela).
The image shows the interior of Quinta Perla, the home that designer Miguel Arroyo owned in the Caracas suburb of San Antonio de los Altos in northern Venezuela.
The bright interior of Quinta Perla reflects the tropical light coming from an unseen large window to the right designed by Arroyo and his friend, the artist Alejandro Otero. The broad floor tiles, also light in tone, must be wonderfully cold to the touch during the long Caribbean summers. The furniture is a blend of smart design in simple lines, and suitable materials for the warm weather. The wood slats of the Butaca Pampatar (Pampatar Chair), the well-known design by Arroyo that appears on the left, allow the air to pass through for extra comfort.
The other three metal chairs with bright, breathable fabrics, are examples of the Butterfly Chair or BKF, named after the initials of the last names of the designers—Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy—who created this chair in Argentina in 1938. Hugely popular and inexpensive, BKF became as ubiquitous a presence throughout the region as an Ikea sofa in the United States. As in my old students days, the back wall is taken over by a large bookcase, an uncomplicated geometric grid, bursting with books and papers and decorated with luscious ferns and creeper plants.
Jorge Zalszupin Store, São Paulo, 1960's.
In 1960, with enough pieces to fill a showroom, Zalszupin opened his first store in São Paulo. Although his fellow architects did not want to participate because they thought the store would be too expensive, Zalszupin went ahead anyway. However, taking into account the warnings of his friends, he cunningly decided to sublet part of the store to share in the high cost. Unknowingly, this was a huge move because, as a result, many more visitors stopped by his store and had a chance to see his designs. L'atelier became an almost instant hit.
CASA PEDREGAL (Prieto López), Mexico City, (Mexico), 1950, Mexican Design
In 1947 Luis Barragan was commissioned to design the home of the family Prieto López, in the district now known as Jardines del Pedregal. The house was part of an ambitious urbanization project where Barragan sought to develop in the area while preserving the integrity of its unique ecosystem. In the image we see the original hallway, including a bench he designed in sabino wood, the material he used to make all of the furniture pieces within the house.
Casa Cirell, Sao Paulo, (Brazil), 1958, Lina Bo Bardi, Brazilian Design
In 1958 Lina Bo Bardi was commissioned to design the house of Professor Renato Cirell and his wife Valeria, in the affluent area of Morumbi in São Paolo. The house is located on a 1600 m2 corner plot of land in the shape of an elongated quarter circle. In the image we see the wooden terrace that rises above the pool, the pillars of the house are founded in the water, like a house on stilts. Beside the pool sit two of Lina’s leather and iron lounge chairs.
Lighting designed by Lisa Johansson-Pape for OY Stockmann AB, Exhibited at the Milan Triennale, 1960.
Her designs often included the use of materials such as enameled metal, acrylic and glass. Johansson-Pape’s lamp designs always stressed technical functionality and practical use. Lisa Johansson-Pape collaborated with the glass blowers at the Iitala glass factory in the 1950s. A new collection of glass lamp designs were born from the partnership. Johansson-Pape designed light fixtures for many public spaces, such as hospitals, churches and ships.
For example, she famously created installations for 150 churches, including Eckerö Church, Helsinki Children’s Hospital, a rheumatic clinic and for the ships Ilmatar, Aallotar, Finnpartner, Finnhansa and the icebreaker Karhu.
She said “A lamp is not the actual purpose, but more like an instrument. It must fulfil its purpose as a provider of light, but at the same time it must also satisfy the aesthetic demands. A good light fixture must be simple, and its structure and function must be both neat and correct”.
Casa de Vidro, Brazil, 1951, Lina Bo Bardi.
The Glass House of the paradigmatic architect Lina Bo Bardi, was her first built project, located in Morumbi, south of Sao Paulo. At this time constituting a National Architectural Monument, this house, open to nature, was designed to be the home of Lina and her husband. This construction, which incorporated a meticulous work on the details, was built on this ground with a great slope, thanks to the new industrial techniques of the moment.
This house is born from a sloping land and surrounded by a forest, something that Lina Bo Bardi wanted to maintain, to generate a direct relationship with its natural characteristics. Therefore, the front part is raised on steel tubes, which support the volume of reinforced concrete and glass slabs, almost without touching the pre-existing. According to Luiz Fernando Franco from IPHAN (Technical Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage) “its uniqueness lies in the modernity of its relationship with the environment and its insertion into the landscape".
In the photograph we can see the iconic "Bola" chairs by Lina Bo Bardi. With Blackened metal, original patina leather and brass balls, these six chairs have been created for her own house "Casa de Vidro", which only six of them were produced for the project.
Gran Vía Library in Madrid, 1953, Miguel Fisac.
Armchair on a steel frame, upholstered seat and backrest and patterned arms. Wooden side table and steel legs.
Bo Bardi's Coaty Restaurant, Ladeira de Misericordia (Bahia), 1987, Lina Bo Bardi.
Lina Bo Bardi. Architecture classics. Shown above, Bo Bardi’s Coaty Restaurant in the Ladeira da Misericordia, Bahia; an ingenious use of the concrete walls circling a tree growing out of the building’s roof. The windows are her signature, irregular punch-outs framed by wooden trellises similar to the muxarabiyas common on Brazilian colonial houses. The building is a spectacular essay on creativity in the midst of poverty and great physical beauty.
Lina Bo Bardi intended to keep the absolute beauty of nature that inhabits the landscape, nature became the material which with to build these new scenery. Lina transforms the existing hillside nature from a new perspective, contemplating the landscape from within nature, invading spaces projected on material basis and through shaded green light. The key to the proposal by Lina Bo Bardi is the fascination by vacuum, by the "nothing" which means to provide you with a new air to the place, a new light, a new point of view from which we see and observed.
Bar in formica and curved compensado naval (plywood) from Moveis Artistístico Z by Jose Zanine Caldas, Brazil 1949
Zanine Caldas founded, in partnership with Sebastião Henrique da Cunha Pontes and Paulo Mello, Móveis Artístico Z, in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, in 1949. With the factory, Zanine became one of the country's pioneers in design and in the production of manufactured furniture and in the use of naval plywood in its furniture. The assembly of her pieces was extremely simple, which allowed the use of unskilled labor in this function. Combining this factor with the maximum use of the plywood board, Móveis Artísticas Z managed to reduce the price of furniture from 70% to 80% in relation to the amount practiced with the use of common wood.
Casa Ricarda, El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona (Spain), 1953, Antoni Bonet, Mid-Century modern/ Spanish Design
Between the years 1953-1963 Antoni Bonet was commissioned by the family Gomis to design what is now known as Casa Ricarda. The house is situated on the peripheries of Barcelona and remains privately own. The photo shows the family dining area, the chairs, table, and floor all designed by Bonet, the burulp tapestry by Magda Bolumar.
Maisons de la Weissenhof-Siedlung, Germany, 1927, Le Corbusier.
Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret’s detached house and the semi-detached houses are part of the Stuttgart Weissenhof-Siedlung. The detached house is at No. 2 Bruckmannweg, and the semi-detached houses are at Nos. 1-3 Rathenaustrasse.
The detached house is an implementation of the Citrohan model. The house has a cubic form seemingly made to float above the ground by the visible pilotis, recessed basement and coloured walls. The dominant element is a large central hall on two levels, to which are attached the service and individual rooms on the ground and gallery floors. The central hall opens towards the exterior through a large bay window on the south side; this was originally intended to contain a small interior garden arranged lengthwise. The roof terrace level consists of the garden surrounded by an attic, as well as living rooms and toilets. Characteristic of the free plan are the absence of fixed partitions, the curved partitions of the bathroom and the built-in furniture. The building’s high visibility is accentuated by the colourful painted facades.
The semi-detached houses are designed according to the “transformable house” model. The presence of movable elements allows great flexibility in the use of interior space and thus a maximum economy of space in the plan. From the Rathenaustrasse, one reaches the front door via an outside staircase leading to a terrace, its location suggesting an architectural promenade. An internal spiral staircase gives access both to the upper floor, containing the living and service rooms, and to the roof terrace level, with the roof garden occupying the entire surface, apart from a small library.
Uffici Eni, Milan (Italy), 1956, Osvaldo Borsani.
The ENI Palace in San Donato Milanese was designed by Marcello Nizzoli and Mario Olivieri following the thoughts of Enrico Mattei, who wanted a living space for his company, where areas dedicated to work and others to relax could be combined. Mattei had wanted to know Borsani having appreciated certain achievements of professional firms. The entrepreneur was struck by the sober elegance and modern taste, in an era, the 1950s, in which these types of environments were still dominated by the rhetoric of stylish furniture (as opposed to living spaces, already headed towards the redefinition in a modern key). The solution that Osvaldo Borsani (who in the meantime had given birth to Tecno) designed for Mattei in 1956 sees the domination of a warm material such as wood (used both for desks and partitions) and the insertion of a wide range of furniture items. We are talking above all about the equipped walls, the wall cabinets and the T96 desk, the best solution for rooms with a polygonal plan, and which from San Donato will flow into the Tecno catalog, founded three years earlier.
"Peinadora, puerta central con espejo Nº 602. Silla Nº 61", Venezuela, 1953, Cornelis Zitman.
Among the group of furniture designers active in Venezuela during the 1950s, and we will cite some of those names later, Cornelis J. Zitman is the most prolific but also the most unknown known. A Dutch made Venezuelan through his sculpture and teachings, a distinguished maker and manufacturer, as well as a renowned artist, Cornelis Zitman always appears on the front page in references and exhibitions that on three-dimensional design allude to the contours of a pioneering activity, anchored in the fifty.
Casa Rubens de Mendonça, São Paulo (Brazil), 1959, João Vilanova.
The houses of Olga Baeta (1956-57) and Rubens de Mendonça (1958-59) belong to the second phase of the work of João Vilanova Artigas (1915-1985), the most important modernist architect in São Paulo. It took place at a particularly active moment in the history of Brazil, a time when competition and the construction of the new capital, Brasilia, took place.
As in Casa Baeta, the opacity of the exterior windowless facades contrasts sharply with the transparency and spaciousness of the ceilings and double height windows that overlook the gardens. The "House of Triangles" celebrates geometry in every detail: from the volumes of the spaces to the fresco on the front façade, from the floor pattern to the sections of the eight pillars, the walls and even the garden lawn. This Brazilian work of total art finds parallels and contrasts in two other Latin American buildings: Casa Planchart (1954) by Gio Ponti in Caracas and the Central Library of the National Autonomous University in Mexico City (1952) by Juan O'Gorman, Gustavo Saavedra and Juan Velasco. The refined details at Casa Mendonça associate it closely with Ponti's house in Venezuela, but the use of repetition places it in direct opposition to Ponti's search for originality and individual symbolism in that same house.
Palacio do Planalto, Brasilia, (Brazil), Sergio Rodrigues, Brazilian Design.
In 1960 Sergio Rodrigues was invited by architect Oscar Niemeyer to design a set of furniture pieces for the newly inaugurated, Palacio do Planalto or Nation Congress building, In Brasilia. In the image we see the “Mezanino” or entrance hall on the first floor, for which in 1962 Rodrigues designed the “Poltrona Vronka” arm chair and matching stools seen in the photo.
Maison La Roche – Jeanneret, Paris (France), 1923, Le Corbusier.
The architectural work of Le Corbusier captured in the 20s is characterized by the search for universal forms that are appropriate to the new era, expressing a vocabulary governed by geometry and mathematical rigor. However, the plastic attitude applied to these works is governed by the competence acquired together with Amadee Ozenfant in the exercise of painting. The use of color in architecture comes from these practices, an intention expressed in the theoretical formulations previously published in the magazine L’Espirit Nouveau, which is the conceptual basis of his later polychrome essays.
Le Corbusier experiments with the use of "specific color reactions" to favor the expected reading of certain parts of a building. In the conception of this story, he defines blues and greens as creative colors of space, which move the wall away from the viewer, generating an atmosphere of its own. On the contrary, he considers reds, browns and oranges as colors that approach, that fix the wall in its exact position, build its dimension and emphasize its presence.
Catalog from the atelier archives with several designs by Jorge Zalszupin, among them we highlight the "801" armchairs, created in 1959.
L'Atelier was a design collective comprised of architects, engineers, craftsmen, and a large-scale team of professionals that did everything from materials research to product completion. With the birth of the utopian Brasilia during the 1960s and 1970s, virtually no public building was left unmarked by the brand's creations. The designs of L'Atelier remain as reference days of modernism until today.
The "801" sofa and armchair set, with its high level of light-dark contrast: Brazilian rosewood, with foam seat and backrest covered in light-colored fabric that emphasizes the visible details in the rear view of the frame. Once again we see a focus on the minimalistic elegance of the use of wood and the brass tip in the finishing of the feet.
Centro de Estudios Hidrográficos, Madrid, 1963, Miguel Fisac.
The building, completed in 1963, responds to the order of making the headquarters for the dependencies of the Ministry of Public Works in charge of hydrographic studies. One of the requirements was to to have a large room for the construction of large-scale hydraulic models that would serve to anticipate possible hydraulic problems that could generate the swamps, as well as contains offices for its workers.
Miguel Fisac (Daimiel, 1913-Madrid, 2006), an architect who was committed to formal sincerity, proposed a building divided into two clearly differentiated parts: the offices in a vertical block and the large nave next to it, only connected by a corridor in the first floor, forming a homogeneous set by the use of the same material, concrete. Fisac, who became the great expert in this material, chose concrete despite the fact that, until then, it was not considered a sufficiently noble material in public institutions, for which the use of stone was recommended.
But Miguel Fisac not only exhaustively designed the building, but also created a series of furniture for it that, fortunately, has survived to this day. It is surprising to enter the spectacular conference room and find the armchairs with "chicken feet", so characteristic of his role as a designer.
Villa Borasi, Varedo, Italy, 2018, Osvaldo Borsani, Italian Design
On the occasion of the Salone de Mobile 2018, Villa Borsani the home of the architect and designer Osvaldo Borsani was opened to the public. The project was a special exception in light of the upcoming Osvaldo Borsani exhibit at the Triennale di Milano. In the image the living room of the house that stayed with the Borsani family until 2008.
Brazilian interior with pieces from L'Atelier by Jorge Zalszupin, 1960's.
Jorge Founded L'Atelier, and was a design collective comprised of architects, engineers, craftsmen, and a large-scale team of professionals that did everything from materials research to product completion. With the birth of the utopian Brasilia during the 1960s and 1970s, virtually no public building was left unmarked by the brand's creations. The designs of L'Atelier remain as reference days of modernism until today.
"Ovejo" Chair, 1972, Jaime Gutiérrez Lega.
Good design solves problems and creates new possibilities that go beyond the variables of functionality and aesthetics. Jaime Gutiérrez Lega, the members of the Mangle Collective, the Curve ID team, Sergio Vergara, Esteban Gómez, Rodrigo Torres and Mariana Vieira exercised their creativity, and their knowledge in the use of materials and ergonomics, in a constant work of sketches and prototypes to create Ovejo, Vuelve, Ingo, Victoria, Platina, Delta and Mantis: seven iconic chairs made in Colombia during the last 47 years.
In the early 1970s, Jaime often went to Villa de Leyva, where they sold sheep skins, leather strips, and cut eucalyptus wood for firewood. Those materials made him think of an ideal seat for rest. Gercol produced the chair that expresses a nod to local identity and exported it to the Gibson warehouse in New York.
Exhibition of Dujo furniture at Salon International du Moveis in Paris (France), 1967
During the four-year period 1967-1971 the international activity of Gonzalo Córdoba and Victoria Caignet marked the beginning of a series of participations in the international exhibitions in Paris and Milan.
In the same year in Paris, they met Steph Simon, gallerist of well known names as Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé, and they started a fruitful relationship that lasted for years to come.
Casa Fisac, Cerro del Aire (Madrid), 1956, Miguel Fisac.
Miguel Fisac work is a catalog of innovation and modernity, as well as an extraordinary compromise between aesthetics and engineering. Each and every one of his buildings was a turn of the screw to the architecture of a country stagnant in historicism, thanks to an early organicist vision that led him to overcome fully valid rationalist precepts.
Most of the furniture in the Casa del Cerro del Aire are pieces designed by Fisac. Among them, the famous toro armchairs stand out, in this case with a metallic structure, the dining room chairs, the houndstooth table and other armchairs also with these very characteristic legs.
Chair model "Double Miguelito", México, 1940's, Michael Van Beuren.
The San Miguel or San Miguelito side chair is one of Michael Van Beuren’s most successful and representative designs. (Michael van Bueren was referred to as Don Miguel or Don Miguelito in Spanish, from where he took the name.) The chair is a modern interpretation of the traditional butaca, or butaque (commonly referred to as Campeche chair), which was popular in Mexico’s coastal areas since colonial times, including the Yucatan Peninsula and Veracruz. This particular iteration of the San Miguelito chair was likely produced from 1947 to 1960, the period when the bulk of Domus production was manufactured using the more inexpensive Mexican white pine wood (ayacahuite) combined with natural fibers such as woven agave fiber (ixtle) and palm (Ilona Katzew, Curator and Department Head, Latin American Art).
The Arteluce Store, Milan, (Italy) 1963, founded by Gino Sarfatti, Italian Design
The above image was taken in 1963 at the Arteluce Store on Corso Matteotti in Milan, founded by Sarfatti in 1939. The photograph shows some of the Italian designers most Iconic designs including the table lamp model 548. Sarfatti eventual sold Arteluce the Flos in 1973.
Photography from the exhibition Gonzalo Córdoba (1924 - 2020): “creer en lo nuestro” y “crear lo nuestro”, La Habana Vieja (Cuba), 2018.
Tribute to Gonzalo Córdoba from Factoria Habana, remembering his exhibition CONVERGENCIAS with designer Luis Ramírez Jiménez and under the curatorship of Concha Fontenla in 2018.
“NOBODY SHOULD BE ASTONISHED that those of us in solidarity with our time –and with our Revolution– understand that design should not be a luxury but rather part of everyone's right to quality of life, just as culture, art are , education, health ... "
Fragment of the text signed by Gonzalo Córdoba and María Victoria Caignet in 1991 as an introduction to the exhibition DESIGN AMIGO, organized by the CDAV.
Gio Ponti's apartment in Via Dezza, Italy, 1950's.
In the picture you can see Gio Ponti in his apartment with his wife and daughter. The apartment in which Gio Ponti lived with his family, from 1957 (his last home), contains all the Pontian inventions in terms of distribution, walls, furniture and objects that appeared during the fifties, and that have originated even earlier.
Miguel Fisac. Centro de Estudios Hidrográficos, Madrid 1963.
The building, completed in 1963, responds to the order of making the headquarters for the dependencies of the Ministry of Public Works in charge of hydrographic studies. One of the requirements was to to have a large room for the construction of large-scale hydraulic models that would serve to anticipate possible hydraulic problems that could generate the swamps, as well as contains offices for its workers.
Miguel Fisac (Daimiel, 1913-Madrid, 2006), an architect who was committed to formal sincerity, proposed a building divided into two clearly differentiated parts: the offices in a vertical block and the large nave next to it, only connected by a corridor in the first floor, forming a homogeneous set by the use of the same material, concrete. Fisac, who became the great expert in this material, chose concrete despite the fact that, until then, it was not considered a sufficiently noble material in public institutions, for which the use of stone was recommended.
But Miguel Fisac not only exhaustively designed the building, but also created a series of furniture for it that, fortunately, has survived to this day. It is surprising to enter the spectacular conference room and find the armchairs with "chicken feet", so characteristic of his role as a designer.
Das Canoas House, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil), 1951, Oscar Niemeyer
In 1951 Oscar Niemeyer designed Casa Das Canoas as his family home, in Canoas, Barra de Tijuca, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The house is considered one of the most significant examples of modern architecture in Brazil. In the image we see the interior hall and dining area, designed by Niemeyer himself. The room is characterized by the wall of windows and the view of the subtropical vegetation, creating a space that generates harmony between the interior and exterior environments and emphasizes a sense of belonging in nature.
Margarita chair, produced by Dino Gavina, Italy 1971 by Roberto Sebastian Matta.
The chilean surrealist artist conceived with Dino Gavina in 1971 the series “Ultramobile” with the aim of adapting in a surprising way the surrealist object to daily use. Margarita was cast in bronze the first time to fix an idea: it is a petrol can, opened up like a daisy, a barrel turned into a tribal throne.
SS Andrea Doria, Italian Cruise Liner, 1951, Gio Ponti & Nino Zoncada, Italian Design
In the late 1940s Gio Ponti and Nino Zoncada were invited to design the first-class lounge of the SS Andrea Doria, an Italian Cruise Liner. The image shows the completed lounge in 1951. The architects transformed the wall into a work of art, asking the famous Italian muralist Salvatore Fiume to cover its entire surface. The work was perfectly integrated into the space and was painted to enhance the perspective and brightness of the lounge.
Dining room of the Danish line, in the sample department of buildings C of the Nonoalco Tlatelolco Urban Complex, 1960's, Michael Van Beuren.
Domus furniture that originally bore the label "Domus designed by Grabe & Van Beuren" became a hallmark of modernity in the houses or apartments of the new Mexican middle class of those times and of the following decades. Furniture from the Danish line was selected for its low cost and modern design.
Between 1964 and 1965, for example, Van Beuren furniture equipped the sample apartments that were offered in the new housing complex that at that time stood as a symbol of modernity in the Mexican capital: the Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlatelolco, designed by the architect Mario Pani. The new apartments were advertised with such functional and considered tasteful furniture.
Villa Planchart, Caracas (Venezuela), 1957, Gio Ponti.
The construction of the Villa Planchart culminated in 1957, and it remains today as it was orchestrated by the architect and its owners. One could speak of Villa Planchart as a modern interpretation of the traditional Venezuelan house with a patio; or even from the Italian village. But in reality, what results from the Villa Planchart is a unique synthesis of the most impeccable Milanese design, built only to be lived in the tropics, with absolute harmony between the design of its spaces and each of the elements that make them up _ paintings that they are windows and windows that are pictures_ as requested. In this way, Ponti leaves in the city of Caracas what he himself called his masterpiece, a house that houses monumentality within a domestic space.
Aurèlia Muñoz Textile Work, Barcelona (Spain), 1970's
The starting point has always been, for Aurèlia Muñoz, organic matter.
First was textile fiber; now, the role. However, it is important to know, in honor of the truth, that this is not exactly the case. And it is that she is already striving to turn her participation upside down before: in nothingness, when matter does not yet exist and not even form has taken shape in her mind.
Photography from the exhibition Gonzalo Córdoba (1924 - 2020): “creer en lo nuestro” y “crear lo nuestro”, La Habana Vieja (Cuba), 2018.
Tribute to Gonzalo Córdoba from Factoria Habana, remembering his exhibition CONVERGENCIAS with designer Luis Ramírez Jiménez and under the curatorship of Concha Fontenla in 2018.
“NOBODY SHOULD BE ASTONISHED that those of us in solidarity with our time –and with our Revolution– understand that design should not be a luxury but rather part of everyone's right to quality of life, just as culture, art are , education, health ... "
Fragment of the text signed by Gonzalo Córdoba and María Victoria Caignet in 1991 as an introduction to the exhibition DESIGN AMIGO, organized by the CDAV.
The Alacrán Chaise Longue made in primavera wood and cotton, 1940, México, Michael Van Beuren.
Michael van Beuren was born in New York but he moved to Mexico in 1937 where he ventured into the furniture industry and offered Mexican society a new type of design, contemporary in nature and adapting to the modern architecture that was starting to dominate the design society of Latin America.
In 1940 Michael van Beuren created Domus a furniture firm that opened its first store at number 40 on Hamburg Street; this company served as an umbrella for various brands that flooded the Mexican market with interesting designs and a much more international and modern approach, leaving behind the “Mexican style” created in the search for an identity national.
One of the winning designs in MoMA New York's 1941 "Organic Design and Home Furnishing" competition, the Alacran Chaise is a timeless and iconic mid-century piece. Ideal for indoor or outdoor use.
MF5 Chairs,Interior Jardim America (São Paulo), 1950's, Branco e Preto.
Designed by Carlos Milan and Miguel Forte, the MF5 Armchair is a reissue of the 1950s. The straw back, the tapered feet and the sharp curves in the arms are the highlights of the piece.
The Camino Real Hotel, Mexico City, Mexico, 1968, Ricardo Legorreta, Latin American Design
The Camino Real Hotel marks one of the most important works of the career of Ricardo Legorret, because it proposed an aesthetic that would mark the path of his later works, modern and traditional at the same time, heirs of Mexican vernacular architecture. The image shows a one of the hotels suites.
Advertisement from "Hobjeto o Movel Inteligente", Brazil, 1960's, Geraldo de Barros.
In 1964 Geraldo de Barros founds a new furniture company: Hobjeto. After Unilabor, Hobjeto is a more capitalistic project but without loosing his constructive characteristics. Until his retirement in 1989, de Barros designed and projected in-numerous furniture lines in this industrial manner. He even built a personal workshop in the factory in order to project and create his last painting serie in Formica. The furniture and the paintings are finally created using the same techniques.
MULTICHAIR By B-LINE, 1970, Joe Colombo.
Chair, conversation or relaxation chair, Multichair is a transformable system through the combination of the two elements that constitute it, usable even individually.
The cushions have a steel structure filled with expanded polyurethane and covered with elastic fabric, while the play of shapes is obtained thanks to the repositionable leather straps and the chrome-satin steel bushings.
Part of the permanent collection of MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
"Mesa convertible Nº 23 and Silla con Brazos y Sillas Apilables", Venezuela, 1953, Cornelis Zitman.
Cornelis Zitman (1926), from Dutch origin and from a family of carpenters and builders, arrived in Venezuela in 1947. And although he is known nationally and internationally as an artist dedicated to drawing and sculpture, Zitman has ventured into furniture design from very early on. early. A decade driven by the design and manufacture of furniture pieces, at the height of the modern movement.
Villa Planchart, Caracas (Venezuela), 1957, Gio Ponti.
The construction of the Villa Planchart culminated in 1957, and it remains today as it was orchestrated by the architect and its owners. One could speak of Villa Planchart as a modern interpretation of the traditional Venezuelan house with a patio; or even from the Italian village. But in reality, what results from the Villa Planchart is a unique synthesis of the most impeccable Milanese design, built only to be lived in the tropics, with absolute harmony between the design of its spaces and each of the elements that make them up _ paintings that they are windows and windows that are pictures_ as requested. In this way, Ponti leaves in the city of Caracas what he himself called his masterpiece, a house that houses monumentality within a domestic space.
Geraldo de Barros UNILABOR interiors, São Paulo (Brazil), 1955, Geraldo de Barros.
When UNILABOR experience started, Geraldo de Barros did not abandon art for furniture design. His approach to design was very humanistic. His intention was to socialize arte and its messages. By using the products he designed for their daily activities, owners of Unilabor furniture were using art. For de Barros, the designer’s role consisted of mediating between society and industry, aiming to resolver the tension between quantity and quality typical of capitalism by injecting quality into serial production. Designing objects for everyday use at that time and in that context not only meant rephrasing artistic processes to adjust them to industrial production, but also reforming the very conditions of industrial production. UNILABOR was agree that manufacturing is only ruled by market trends, it eventually becomes informed solely by quantitative interest, with a negative effect on the quality of the output and on the workers working and living conditions.
Geraldo de Barros Chair and Table, São Paulo (Brazil), 1955.
De Barros started his career in the painting field, although he gained his greatest achievements in the experimental photography, becoming one of the pioneers of the photographic abstraction and the main references of Concretism art in the Brazilian Avant-garde. De Barros was a seeker and an idealistic that found in the project of UNILABOR all the paradigms and values where to apply his designing ideas and esthetic values.
This utopia project started to be materialized in the periphery of Sao Paulo where a community of artists, workers and intellectuals, were reunited by the fray Joao Batista Pereira and Gerlaldo De Barros. The purpose of this self-managed-working community, was to create a new model of a factory, were the workers had the control of the factory and the main role on it. Based on the education of the workers, the implementation of cultural actions during the working hours and, thanks to De barros, who added the aesthetic vision and design to release this project. Economy and Humanism was the root of the movement ”Tercera Via”, an action from the state to limit and restrict the actions for the Industrial society, but also without forgetting the individual freedom.
Mexican dining room sketch, Mexico, 1950's, Frank Kyle.
Frank B. Kyle was an American sculptor and furniture designer from Minneapolis, though he mainly lived in California, Kyle moved to Mexico City in the early 1950’s and opened a gallery in the south of the city, in the neighborhood of La Florida where he exhibited his furniture pieces and sculptures. Kyle´s furniture designs included elegant dining sets, chairs, tables, lamps and screens. One of his trademarks was the exceptional lacquer finish that he provided to some of his furniture lines. His work was used for residential, office spaces and Hotel interiors, using innovative combinations of unique designs, new materials and superb craftmanship.
Casa Estudio, Chimalistac, (Mexico), 1970, Clara Porset, Mexican Design
In the year 1970 Clara Porset lived and worked from her home, Casa Estudio, on the street Hamburgo, in Mexico City. In the image we see her living room, featuring several of the designers Butaque Chairs, along with a ceramic lamp designed by Luis Barragán with whom Porset collaborated on various projects.
Showroom for Cynthia Sargent, Amberes 43, Zona Rosa, Cuauhtemoc, Mexico City, 1964, Cynthia Sargent.
In hand-hooked rugs designed by Cynthia Sargent, the design dictates not only what colors are used and how they are employed, but also texture, size and shape. And because the Riggs-Sargent workshop is dedicated to reproducing these designs with artsy and precision, its craftsmen work with five different lengths of loop, many different thicknesses and twists of loop, many different thicknesses and twists of yarn, and with 300 unique dye formulas that produce the exceptional range and subtlety of colors.
Sergio Rodrigues "Mole" armchair and interior, Río de Janeiro, 1950's.
Rodrigues' most iconic piece, the 'Mole' armchair (meaning "soft" in Portuguese) was designed in 1961. Robust and extremely comfortable, the 'Mole' sparked an international design trend that favored comfort, and a new attention to scale. It was awarded first prize at the IV Furniture Bienal in Italy. This chair invites relaxation and coziness, offering a comfort reminiscent of a hammock. The chair is comprised of a solid rounded wood frame, adjustable leather support straps and a floppy, over•sized luxurious leather cushion.
Photography from "Magazine Casas y Gente" showing a set designed by Frank B. Kyle, Mexico, 1960's.
Frank Kyle was an American sculptor and furniture designer from Minneapolis, although he lived primarily in California. Kyle moved to Mexico City in the early 1950s and opened his gallery where he exhibited his furniture and sculptures. Kyle's furniture designs include elegant dining sets, chairs, tables, lamps, and screens.
Advertisement in Casa e Jardim magazine with furniture by Martin Eisler and Carlo Hauner, Brazil 1958.
In 1953 Carlo Hauner met Martin Eisler, who was looking for help to produce furniture for the home of his brother-in-law, Ernesto Wolf. The two men connected and with Wolf’s financial backing, they opened Galeria Artesanal (a store to their company Móveis Artesenal) on a busy street in São Paulo.
Being highly ambitious and with an eye on the international market as well as the upcoming office market, Móvies Artesanal later changed into Forma, becaming one of the biggest names in Brazilian furniture production.
Instituto Nacional de Óptica Daza de Valdés, Madrid (Spain), 1948, Miguel Fisac.
The interior keeps the spaces that Fisac projected and the traces of the primitive decoration, especially the use of warm wood and some furniture, in the lobby and other rooms. The jewel is the old bar (which we can see in the photography), which preserves its design and the furniture created by the architect, with the fireplace known as "the nose". The curved ceiling covered in hazelnut braided rods and the lamps. The shape of the furniture also adapts to curved walls. The upholstery are not the original but they were renewed imitating them.
"Costela" Armchair, Brazil, 1950's, Martin Eisler & Carlo Hauner.
Costela by Martin Eisler, an icon of Brazilian design from the 1950s. An elegant but informal armchair. With its sensual aesthetic, natural materials and smart design, it offers sophisticated customization. Costela is a paradigm of creative design. The fundamental idea on which the chair is built is the beautiful wooden structure with its wooden ribs that cover both the seat and the backrest, and the functional and aesthetic finishing of the detail, ensuring absolute comfort with an extremely natural style in its almost random position. The structure is easy to disassemble and recycle, a perfect feature for the current need and trend to produce furniture that takes into account the principles of sustainability and durability. The possibility of playing with fabric coverings makes Costela not only an unmistakable piece of history, but also a piece of renewed and irresistible modernity.
Tecla Tofano in her studio, Caracas, Venezuela, 1961, Tecla Tofano, Latin American Design
A photograph taken of Tecla Tofano in her studio in 1961. The image was taken by the plastic artist and filmmaker Ángel Hurtado in 1961, when he was commissioned by Antonio Pisani Pardi, then director of the National Television of Venezuela, to make a series of programs with local artists.
Italian interior featuring, Milan, Italy, 1958, Osvaldo Borsani, Italian Design
An Italian interior designed by Osvaldo Borsani in collaboration with Lucio Fontana in 1958. The image features the Swivel Lounge chair designed by Borsani in 1951.
“Edificio Circunvalación”, en Circunvalación 1210-1214, Guadalajara, 1960, Cynthia Sargent.
Interior view of the room where she integrates her first transportable mural designed by Cynthia Sargent. The photograph also shows furniture design authored by Erich Coufal.
Windows from Joaquim Tenreiro's Store in Sao Paulo, 1958.
Joaquim Tenreiro is the pioneer of modernist Brazilian furniture making. A forerunner in the use of rediscovered raw materials as well as the creator of a new formal language in 20th century Brazilian furniture design, he drew on the lessons of past furniture making as a vital source, not only in the mastery of technical and constructive solutions, but also in the aesthetic experience, craftsmanship, and the cultural meaning of his production.
Cynthia Sargent Rug "Shibui" as pictured in House and Garden Magazine, February 2007 in the article "Discovering an All Star" photographed by Jason Schmidt, written by Christy Hobart.
Bedroom Pino 500 Line from 1957, Mexico, Michael Van Beuren.
Van Beuren created Domus, which was his first brand of which the first store was opened in the forties on Hamburg street. In this same decade the designer participated in "Organic Design for Home Furnishing", an event organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and in which he won an award together with his colleagues Grabe and Morley Webb, it was from there that the design that obtained the name of Alacrán, it became famous and began its general marketing at a price of 69.98 US dollars.
The Domus brand was maintained although the company had changes due to the entry of its brother Fredderick, ending the registration as Van Beuren S.A. de C.V. Michael van Beuren left years later to reside in the city of Cuernavaca where he died at 93 years of age.
Italian interior, Milan, Italy, 1958, Osvaldo Borsani, Italian Design
An Italian interior designed by Osvaldo Borsani in collaboration with Lucio Fontana in 1958. The image features the Swivel Lounge chair designed by Borsani in 1951.
Cynthia Sargent weaving one of her pieces, New Mexico, 1970's.
Cynthia Sargent was a very successful mid century textile designer. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the spring of 1922. Cynthia studied dance, painting, block printing and art history with Robert Motherwell, Meyer Schapiro, Joseph Albers and other well known artists of the day. In the early 50's Cynthia and her husband Wendell Riggs emigrated to Mexico, where together they built a legacy of art and design.
"Sillón Modular" FM50 Lounge Chair, Venezuela, 1957, Cornelis Zitman.
The predominant materials of this furniture were wood and iron. However, both Zitman and Oscar Carpio remember that elements such as screws and bolts were difficult to find in the country at that time. The proof that the pieces that Zitman designed for Tecoteca were good was that they were produced in Holland by the Pastoe house, and for this they paid royalties. “Design has always been about doing things, more than a matter of style and aesthetics. I am interested that the result is well done if it is done with principles of quality and technical honesty, "says Zitman.
Malitte system, produced by Dino Gavina, Italy 1966 by Roberto Sebastian Matta.
Malitte is a seating system, an ever-changing composition of five polyurethane blocks covered in a slightly elastic fabric. A playful collection of colored interlocking organic shapes that can be assembled into a single sculpture, a “wall” dividing the environment with its formal and conceptual presence, which, when necessary, can instantly become a complete living room: a two-seater sofa, three seats and a pouf.
Totonaca Armchair, México, 1950's, Clara Porset.
Clara Porset was fascinated and inspired by Mexico's craft traditions, and began looking to traditional forms in order to create designs that would meld modernity with local tradition. Indeed, she is perhaps best known for her variations on the butaque, a low, graceful chair with a long history in Mexico.
Chair with arms. Mahogany wood frame. Molded plywood seat. Nº. 51, 52 and 53, Catalog of 1953, Cornelis Zitman.
Cornelis Zitman (1926), from Dutch origin and from a family of carpenters and builders, arrived in Venezuela in 1947. And although he is known nationally and internationally as an artist dedicated to drawing and sculpture, Zitman has ventured into furniture design from very early on. early. A decade driven by the design and manufacture of furniture pieces, at the height of the modern movement.
He founded Tecoteca, which style was influenced by functionalism. Before, colonial leather and semi-leather furniture predominated in Venezuela. “Our idea was to make furniture that is functional, less pretentious and that occupies small spaces. We wanted to make them for the masses, however, the cost-production-sale to the public was lousy, because the manufacturing cost was so high, with a minimal profit margin," recalls Zitman.
Oscar Niemeyer's studio, Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro), 2010.
At 102 years old, Niemeyer still works in his studio in the Copacabana neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, his last work for, at the moment, was inaugurated in March 2010, the Presidente Tancredo Neves Administrative City, in Minas Gerais, southwest of Brazil. On the photography we can see one of the tables designed by the architect himself.
Armchair designed by Cornelis Zitman for Hotel Humboldt, Venezuela, 1956.
The architect of the building asked the sculptor and designer Cornelis Zitman to manufacture the Danish-style hotel furniture and the Brazilian landscaper Roberto Burle Marx to take care of the surrounding gardens. All that ingenuity made it possible for, against everything, Pérez Jiménez to cut the opening tape on December 29, 1956, when he was just over a year away from being overthrown.
Clara Porset sitting on a livingroom, 1950's, Mexico, Clara Porset.
Cuban political exile Clara Porset arrived in Mexico City in 1935. In a country where the end of the revolution was still close to the surface, Porset was influenced by local traditions, climate and materials, which she used in her work to conceive some of Mexico's most iconic chairs. One example is the Totonaca Armchair that we can see at the back of the livingroom.
Casa e Jardim Magazine, São Paulo, (Brazil), 1956, Lina Bo Bardi, Brazilian Design
In 1951 Lina Bo Bardi designed the “Bowl” chair. In the image we see the chair photographed for the magazine Casa e Jardim in São Paulo in 1956. The chair was revolutionary at its time and is still considered so today. In 2012 a limited edition of 500 Bowl chairs were reproduced by Arper in collaboration with Lina Bo Bardi Institute.
Enrique Yañez Dining room, Gardens of Pedregal (México), 1958, Clara Porset.
Clara Porset in her designs sought to maintain, to some extent, the popular character, using raw materials, fabrics or reinterpretations of traditional furniture. A clear example is the Dining room furniture designed by Clara Porset for the home of architect Enrique Yañez at Gardens of Pedregal in 1958.
Headquarters of the Institute of Architecture of Brazil, São Paulo, 1946, Branco e Preto, Brazilian Design
In the year 1946 the Headquarters of the Institute of Architecture of Brazil in São Paulo was constructed. Miguel Forte one of the founding architects of Branco e Preto was involved in the planning of the construction. In the image we see the double-height interiors which integrates the meeting room and the restaurant, featuring furniture by Joaquim Tenreiro, Alexander Calder and a sculpture by Alfredo Ceschiatti.
Feature from “La Maison Française” featuring pieces by Gónzalo Córdoba in 1967.
In 1967 cuban designer Gonzalo Córdoba, met Steph Simon, the acclaimed gallery owner in Paris selling Jean Prouve, Isamu Noguchi or Charlotte Perriand. Steph Simon took the risk of exhibiting objects of Cuban designers, in wood and marble, to surprise the Paris art scene, resulting in a complete success in terms of sales. This motivated Mr. Córdoba to continue working with the Parisian gallery and modestly introduce his work to certain areas of the European market.
Acapulco Hotel Pierre Margués (Mexico), 1957, Clara Porset.
Clara Porset used materials and techniques present in Mexican crafts, but at the same time complying with the modern concepts of Mario Pani. Porset stated that he kept the intention of using local materials, that decision had three purposes: to add beauty and texture to the furniture, to promote the consumption and acceptance of objects through the familiarity that the user would feel with known materials, and to reduce production costs.
Chair and Ottoman designed for a hotel, 1950's, México, Clara Porset.
Porset, in a way, transgressed the disciplines traditionally associated with design while breaking into a medium until then exclusively for males: Architecture. This furniture made her the winner of the silver medal at the Milan Triennial in 1957.
Wooden chairs, upholstered seat and back, 1950, Goerres Foundation, Miguel Fisac.
Born in Daimiel in 1913, Miguel Fisac obtained his degree at the School of Architecture of Madrid in 1942. During a trip to Sweden he would discover the works of Gunnar Asplund, which would influence his concept on architecture. Always working with newer materials, his style evolved over time: from abstract classicism he moved towards a greater use of brick, which he would later abandon for concrete, especially pre-stressed concrete, his patented invention. Some of his most emblematic works are from this last period, like the Hydrographical Study Centre or the Jorba Laboratories.
Miguel Fisac work is a catalog of innovation and modernity, as well as an extraordinary compromise between aesthetics and engineering. Each and every one of his buildings was a turn of the screw to the architecture of a country stagnant in historicism, thanks to an early organicist vision that led him to overcome fully valid rationalist precepts.
House with Miguel Fisac's furniture, Madrid (Spain), 1960's, Miguel Fisac.
Fisac's private house was a pioneer in the movement towards the outskirts of Madrid society during the 1960s. Today, surrounded by roads, it is a symbol of the regeneration of modern architecture, both in terms of language and the criteria of adaptation to the landscape, as it rises solitary on a platform, modifying the slope. Built around a courtyard with granite masonry walls and metal pillars, on which a thin concrete slab rests, the house grew according to family needs at various times, and always with economic criteria. The house is organized from the center into three parts: to the east, the bedrooms; to the west, the service area; and in the center, from north to south, the kitchen, the entrance and the living areas. The complete openings from floor to ceiling bring both the distant landscape and the garden closer to the interior, and provide a bright interior where the architect designed and experimented with his own furniture, with Nordic features, but with an evident rationalism and craftsmanship.
MF1 Chairs, Interior Jardim America (São Paulo), 1950's, Branco e Preto.
The brand invested in sober, well defined and light lines and, especially, in the innovative material for the time: laminated wood, welded iron and plastic. The upholstery fabric was especially important. As the store never had industrial production, always betting on the handcrafted execution, the pieces are now considered rare and quite valuable.
Das Canoas House, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil), 1951, Oscar Niemeyer
In 1951 Oscar Niemeyer designed Casa Das Canoas as his family home, in Canoas, Barra de Tijuca, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The house is considered one of the most significant examples of modern architecture in Brazil. In the image we see the interior hall and dining area, designed by Niemeyer himself. The room is characterized by the wall of windows and the view of the subtropical vegetation, creating a space that generates harmony between the interior and exterior environments and emphasizes a sense of belonging in nature.
"Ultramobile" collection, produced by Dino Gavina, Italy, 1971, Roberto Sebastian Matta.
The chilean surrealist artist conceived with Dino Gavina in 1971 the series “Ultramobile” with the aim of adapting in a surprising way the surrealist object to daily use. Margarita was cast in bronze the first time to fix an idea: it is a petrol can, opened up like a daisy, a barrel turned into a tribal throne.
Roberto Sebastian Matta, who initially trained as an architect in his native Santiago(Chile), is best known as an abstract expressionist and surrealist painter. After completing his studies and moving to Paris, he worked briefly in the studio of famed architect Le Corbusier. His interests soon moved towards painting and he joined the circles of Salvador Dali, André Breton, and René Magritte.
Matta later met Dino Gavina, who invited the painter to design a piece of furniture for Gavina, continuing after with the famous anthropomorphic wooden chairs he created during the 70s.
"Diseño en Mexico" Exhibition, Modern Art Museum, 1975, Don Shoemaker.
The “Diseño en Mexico” exhibition took place in 1975 at the MAM with the participation of the most celebrated artists and designers of that time: Don S. Shoemaker, Po Shun Leong, Pedro Ramirez Vázquez, Clara Porset, Oscar Hagerman and many others. On top of the podium at the back of the photography, we can see the model "Swingers" chair designed by Shoemaker.
Tres Personatges, Hitari Kineuqau Museum Collection (Japan, 1971, Aurelia Munoz.
Textile sculptures made in macramé, which take this technique out of the field of female and artisan work and launch it into the monumental and aerial. The geometric and balanced character of her works is striking. Unlike those that are most abundant with this technique, of a formless organicity, those of Muñoz are light and rigorous that remind (in the smallest pieces) of Agnes Martin. These miniatures, like poor jewels, of overwhelming delicacy, connect with her works on paper. Although presented as models, they have their own entity. On a larger scale they result from a balanced severity.
Villa Planchart, Caracas (Venezuela), 1957, Gio Ponti.
The construction of the Villa Planchart culminated in 1957, and it remains today as it was orchestrated by the architect and its owners. One could speak of Villa Planchart as a modern interpretation of the traditional Venezuelan house with a patio; or even from the Italian village. But in reality, what results from the Villa Planchart is a unique synthesis of the most impeccable Milanese design, built only to be lived in the tropics, with absolute harmony between the design of its spaces and each of the elements that make them up _ paintings that they are windows and windows that are pictures_ as requested. In this way, Ponti leaves in the city of Caracas what he himself called his masterpiece, a house that houses monumentality within a domestic space.
Aurelia Muñoz Work.
Muñoz makes small-format models in methacrylate boxes (and previous drawings), so that each work is part of an uninterrupted creative process. The methacrylate boxes, as a means of presenting the work and its container space, will be a constant throughout its trajectory, representing, as Ventosa says, that space or interior room, in which the artist little by little he goes deeper and deeper to express his relationship with the body in an organic way.
Armchair P40, XI Triennale, Milan, Italy, 1957, Osvaldo Borsani, Italian Design
The eleventh Triennale was where Borsani debuted hist most celebrated piece of furniture: the P40 was the daughter of the D70 presented at the previous Triennale. The armchair immediately aroused interest from the public as it perfectly summarizes the theme chosen for this edition of the exhibition: the relationship between arts, contemporary architecture, design and industrial production.
"El Arte en la Vida Diaria" Exhibition, Museo de Bellas Artes (México), 1952, Clara Porset.
"El Arte en la Vida Diaria" was the first design exhibition held in our country. It was organized by Clara Porset, with the support of the architect Enrique Yáñez, head of the Department of Architecture at INBA. It was presented in the Bellas Artes and La Estampa rooms of the Palacio de Bellas Artes in April 1952, and in October of the same year, in the corridors and spaces of the Humanities building of the recently inaugurated Ciudad Universitaria, on the occasion of the VII Pan-American Congress of Architects.
The exhibition brought together nearly 800 objects considered of good design such as furniture for the home, garden, office, textiles, ceramic and silver pieces, among others.
Aurelia Muñoz at her Studio, Barcelona (Spain), 1974.
Aurèlia Muñoz (Barcelona, 1926-2011) is one of the most important textile artists of the 20th century. Starting in the 1960s, the movements known as La Nouvelle Tapisserie and Fiber Sculptures, in which Aurèlia Muñoz actively participated, wanted to overcome the traditional concept of the tapestry, as an object of decoration of houses and palaces, to give it its own identity as a work art in its own right, where texture, volume and three-dimensional space are essential. In this way, they transformed tapestries into avant-garde textile art for everyone.
Spanish Interior featuring the armchair Model "Toro", Madrid, 1955, Miguel Fisac
This Spanish interior features the armchair Model "Toro" designed by Miguel Fisac in 1955, the chair was one of his most remarkable designs, reminiscent of the horns of a bull.
Pavilion Le Corbusier, Zurich, (Switzerland), 1964-1967, Le Corbusier, French Design.
In 1964 one year before his death, Le Corbusier was propositioned by gallery owner Heidi Weber to build the 600 square meter glass and steel structure, that has become known as Pavilion Le Corbusier. The structure that was not completed until two years after the architect’s death was built as a “synthesis of the arts”. The building offers a number of Le Corbusier’s most iconic furniture designs, as well his favorite pieces by other designers. In the image above, we see the Chair 209 by Thronet. Le Corbuiser was fascinated with this chair saying "... this chair has nobility."
La Ricarda, El Prat de Llobregat (Spain), 1953, Antoni Bonet, mid-century modern Spanish Design.
Designed by the architect Antonio Bonet, in close collaboration with the owner Ricardo Gomis and his wife Inés Bertrand Mata, the Gomis house, better known as La Ricarda, is perhaps his most emblematic work and in architectural terms the best example of Catalan Rationalism. Its construction is a continuation of the work carried out by the architect in Punta Ballena, Uruguay, with the Berlingieri House, where the coherent use of the structure formed by pillars and Catalan vault gives rise to spaces of great depth and transparency.
Magazine Advertisement for Movies Z, Brazil, 1950s, Jose Zadine Caldas, Latin American Design
An advertisement for the most famous furniture manufacturing company of Jose Zadine Caldas Fábrica de Móveis Artísticos Z, that produced semi-mass produced sinuously shaped plywood.
Casa Cruïlles, Aiguablava (Spain), 1963, Antoni Bonet, mid-century modern Spanish Design.
Formally, the house is modulated from the proportions of a tile, a relationship that Bonet Castellana extracts from the trapezoidal shape of the plot and translates into various elements, from the shape of the paving stones to the vaults. The vault is the basic composition module with which the architect solves the fusion of the interior space with the exterior, and opens the house to the immediate nature that surrounds it. The roof element stands out, a large inverted white tile that rests on the succession of brick walls. Constructively, indigenous solutions are used, approached with a refined innovative language. The materials are the traditional ones of the Mediterranean climate such as white lime walls, wood, stone walls, etc.
Oca for Móduo magazine, Rio de Janiero, (Brazil), 1958, Sergio Rodrigues, Brazilian Design
In 1955 Sergio Rodrigues opened Oca, a furniture store on the street Jangadeiros in the Ipanema district of Rio de Janeiro. In the image we see an advertisement for Oca published by the magazine Móduo in 1958. The shot is taken on Leblon beach in Rio de Janeiro by Otto Stupakoff and features Rodrigue’s famous “Gio” armchair designed in 1958 as a tribute to Gio Ponti himself. In the background we see the prototype of the famous “mole” sofa also designed in 1958.
La Rinconada, Uruguay, 1943, Antonio Bonet
La Rinconada house, designed by Antonio Bonet, is located in the area where the large beach meets the “Punta Ballena” cliff, which gives it an great view of the entire length of the beach. Built in 1948, the movement of the cliff in both directions makes the large living room feel like a raised stage facing the sea, and the bedroom area flush with the rear green space.
Chair by Roberto Sebastián Matta, in Collaboration with Gonzalo Cordaba, manufactured by Alessandro Palma, Italy 1976.
Roberto Sebastian Matta, who initially trained as an architect in his native Santiago(Chile), is best known as an abstract expressionist and surrealist painter. After completing his studies and moving to Paris, he worked briefly in the studio of famed architect Le Corbusier. His interests soon moved towards painting and he joined the circles of Salvador Dali, André Breton, and René Magritte.
Matta later met Dino Gavina, who invited the painter to design a piece of furniture for Gavina, continuing after with the famous anthropomorphic wooden chairs he created during the 70s.
The Tumbona chair, Pabellón de Ciudad Real en la Feria del Campo, Madrid, 1953, Miguel Fisac
The Tumbona chair was designed by Miguel Fisac in 1953 for the Pabellón de Ciudad Real en la Feria del Campo in Madrid in 1953. The structure of the chair is wooden with a braided leather seat.
The Living room of Alfredo Boulton, Casa Pampatar, Margarita Island, Venezuela 1953, Miguel Arroyo
Alfredo Boulton’s beach house on Margarita Island in Venezuela was designed by Miguel Arroyo, the living room as seen in the image features a mobile by Alexander Caldas and a wall panel by Miguel Arroyo.
Villa Borasi, Varedo, Italy, 2018, Osvaldo Borsani, Italian Design
On the occasion of the Salone de Mobile 2018, Villa Borsani the home of the architect and designer Osvaldo Borsani was opened to the public. The project was a special exception in light of the upcoming Osvaldo Borsani exhibit at the Triennale di Milano. In the image we see a dressing table designed by the Borsani himself.
Chaise longue model “Rio” , Copacabana, Rio De Janerio, 1978, Oscar Niemeyer
The chaise longue mode "Rio" was designed in the year 1978 by Oscar Niemeyer. In the image we see the Chaise in the office of the architect in Copacabana in Rio De Janerio.
Casa Ricarda, El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona (Spain), 1953, Antoni Bonet, Mid-Century modern/ Spanish Design
Between the years 1953-1963 Antoni Bonet was commissioned by the family Gomis to design what is now known as Casa Ricarda. The house is situated on the peripheries of Barcelona and remains privately own. The photo shows the family dining area, the chairs, table, and floor all designed by Bonet, the burulp tapestry by Magda Bolumar.
The living room of Pavillon Esprit Nouveau 1925, Paris, France, 1925 Le Corbusier
Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau was a model home constructed for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, France. The building was designed by Swiss architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. In order to reduce the need for decorative furniture, Le Corbusier and Jeanneret included a myriad of built-in-furniture including cabinets and shelves.
Furniture for SESC Pompéia’s living room, São Paulo, Brazil, 1980, Lina Bo Bardi
In the image we see the furniture pieces Lina Bo Bardi Designed for the SESC Pompéia’s living room and restaurant in 1980.
Mexican Interior, Mexico, 1960s, Chairs by Michael Van Beuren
From the Danish Collection a lounge set with bar a bar designed by Philip Guilmant for "Muebles Domus de Beuren S.A", Mexico.
SESC POMPÉIA, São Paulo, 1982, Lina Bo Bardi
The Centro de Lazer Fábrica da Pompéia (Pompéia Factory Leisure Centre) or SESC Pompéia as it is more commonly known was designed by Lina Bo Bardi in 1982. Bo Bardi’s work on the SESC Pompéia was a continuation of the architect’s desire to work within communities, to promote positive social activities and the mixing of classes. SESC Pompéia became one of Bo Bardi’s most prestigious projects.
Inside the UNILABOR factory, São Paulo, Brazil, 1958, Geraldo de Barros
The UNILABOR factory located in São Paulo was founded by Geraldo de Barros, along with a Dominican Priest, Friar João Batista Pereira dos Santos. Unilabor was unity in work and a unity through work. A self-managed e factory was run by the workers, it was a system of production that aimed to unify not only form and function, but also a living community and production processes. The discreet beauty of Unilabor furniture pieces is certainly informed by this balance of forces.
Brazilian Interior by Unilabor, São Paulo, Brazil, 1958, Geraldo de Barros
When the uni labor experience started, Geraldo de Barros did not abandon art for furniture design. His approach to design was very humanistic. His intention was to socialise art and its messages. By using the products he designed for their daily activities, owners of Unilabor furniture were using art.
Convergencias Exhibition, Factoría Habana, Habana, Cuba, 2018 Chair by Gonzalo Córdoba
La factoria habana gallery presented an exhibition examining the work of cuban designers Gonzalo Córdoba and Luis Ramírez, created in the country’s production centers. Curated by Concha Fontenla, Convergencias brings together 3D designs, prototypes, photographs, objects, furniture, and installations, to portray the variety and richness of the two creators’ work.
Hallway at La Villa Planchart, Caracas, (Venezuela), 1957, Gio Ponti, Venezuelan Design/Italian Design
In the early 1950s Gio Ponti was commissioned to design the residence of Armando and Anala Planchart, in Colinas de San Roman, Caracas. The image shows the hallway of La Villa Planchart or La Quinta el Cerrito as it became known. The interior plans concentrated around the main hallway, which is considered an interpretation of the traditional Venezuelan house with the Italian Villa.
Studies for the series "Additional System" armchair, Italy, 1968, Joe Colombo
One of the main questions Joe Cesare Colombo focused on as a designer was functionality. In his designs he explored the ways in which an object could both be elegant and simple, while at the same time highly practical. This meant that he thought of ways to limit the amount of space an object would need, allowing it to be taken apart, folded together or stacked, and it also often resulted in assigning it a multi-purpose use.
Casino Rooms in San Remo, Sanremo, Italy, 1950, furniture designed by Gio Ponti
The Casino rooms in San Remo were designed by Ponti and Piero Fornasetti. Fornasetti imprinted hundreds of small and giant playing-cards on sofas, armchairs, curtains, ceilings and walls. In the Vembi-Burroughs offices in Genoa and Turin, designed by Gio Ponti, Fornasetti similarly imprinted pens, pencils, sheets of paper, computers, on chairs, armchairs and sofas.
The ENI – San Donato Milanese Offices, Milan, Italy, 1956, Osvaldo Borsai
The ENI Palace in San Donato Milanese was designed by Marcello Nizzoli and Mario Olivieri for Enrico Mattei. Mattei had heard of Osvaldo Borsani and was interested in working with him. As a result, the interiors were designed by Borsani. He equipped the offices with wall cabinets and his T96 desk.
Brazilian interior featuring Joaquim Tenreiro's famous three legged chair made with five woods, Brazil, 1960s, Joaquim Tenreiro.
The image features Joaquim Tenreiro's famous Cadeira de três pés, (Three legged chair) made with five different woods, including Imbuia, ivory wood, purple wood and mahogany. The chair was made in differing versions with various compositions of woods. The model in the image was designed in 1947.
The Unilabor workshop, 1954, São Paulo, Brazil, Geraldo de Barros, Latin American Design
Unilabor, founded in 1954 by Geraldo de Barros was a self-managed factory run by the workers, it was a system of production that aimed to unify not only form and function, but also a living community and production processes. The discreet beauty of Unilabor furniture pieces is certainly informed by this balance of forces. In the image we see the company's logo above the entrance to their São Paulo factory.
Acapulco Hotel Pierre Margués (Mexico), 1957, Clara Porset.
Clara Porset used materials and techniques present in Mexican crafts, but at the same time complying with the modern concepts of Mario Pani. Porset stated that he kept the intention of using local materials, that decision had three purposes: to add beauty and texture to the furniture, to promote the consumption and acceptance of objects through the familiarity that the user would feel with known materials, and to reduce production costs.
Birds Series, Barcelona (Spain), 1970's, Aurelia Muñoz.
"My bird kites are my last contribution, but I also bring a Tribute to Gaudí from 1969. More than twelve years of creation are represented". Aurelia Muñoz places emphasis on explaining that the very assembly of the exhibition is already a mode of artistic creation. "My works require special assembly and that is why I have come to the place where they have been installed. The Palacio de Cristal seems to me a very beautiful place, but difficult to adapt to this type of exhibition, and thanks to the help of the Ministry of Culture to my own assembly team, to my friends and to the Macarrón house, I have been able to install them in a shorter period than was originally planned. "
Table for Architects, 1950s, Cornelis Zitman.
Photo taken from the Timeline catalog of the VIII Luis Zambrano Popular Technological Inventive Hall 2008. The predominant materials of this furniture were wood and iron. However, elements such as screws and bolts were difficult to find in the country at that time. The proof that the pieces that Zitman designed for Tecoteca were good was that they were produced in Holland by the Pastoe house, and for this they paid royalties. “Design has always been about doing things, more than a matter of style and aesthetics. I am interested that the result is well done if it is done with principles of quality and technical honesty", said Zitman.
Magazine Advert for Forma, Brazil, 1950, Martin Eisler and Carlo Hauner, Latin American Design
In 1953 Carlo Hauner met Martin Eisler. The two men connected and opened Galeria Artesanal (a store for their company Móveis Artesenal) on a busy street in São Paulo. Being highly ambitious and with an eye on the international market as well as the upcoming office market, Móvies Artesanal later changed into Forma. Forma became one of the biggest names in Brazilian furniture production.
Cynthia Sargent, Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México, Mexico, 1964, Latin American Design.
Cynthia Sargent was a very successful mid century textile designer. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the spring of 1922. Cynthia studied dance, painting, block printing and art history with Robert Motherwell, Meyer Schapiro, Joseph Albers and other well known artists of the day. In the early 50's Cynthia and her husband Wendell Riggs emigrated to Mexico, where together they built a legacy of art and design.
Position studies for the "two-part-Multi-Chair", Italy, 1970, Joe Colombo, Italian Design
In these studies, Colombo demonstrated the many ways in which one of his last designs, the two-part Multi-chair, could be used. The leather strap allows the two elements to be taken apart and assembled in different ways to sit, sleep or simply hang out in one’s apartment.
R3 chairs, Branco e Preto.
R3 chair was designed in 1952 by Jacob Ruchti for a Brazilian collective Branco & Preto. It was set up by a group of visionary architects in São Paulo in 1952. Production runs were kept small. Instead, emphasis was placed on high-quality workmanship and use of the best Brazilian materials. Their furniture expressed a simplicity and lightness through the use of geometric patterns and lines.
Casa Ugalde, Caldes d'Estrac (Spain), 1938, Antoni Bonet, mid-century modern Spanish Design.
In the year 1951 Eustaquio Ugalde commissioned José Antonio Coderch to design Casa Ugalde, a holiday house built in the Catalan countryside town of Caldes d'Estrac. The house featured furniture by Designer Antoni Bonet, in the photo we see his famous B.K.F chair, designed in collaboration with Juan Kurchan and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy in Argentina in 1938.
Clara Porset at her Studio, Mexico, 1950.
For Porset, Mexico became a source of inspiration for his artistic development and an engine for an arduous political activity at the hands of his fellow exiles and artists such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and the muralist Xavier Guerrero, with whom he would fall in love and marry more late. It is in this country where the artist is interested in national culture and dabbles in popular arts and in the design of traditional Mexican furniture. Becoming an avant-garde artist with a broad theoretical legacy.
Casa Huarte, Madrid, Spain, 1970s, featuring armchairs model "Toro" by Miguel Fisac
Casa Huarte was build in 1966 by archiects José Antonio Corrales y Ramón Vázquez Molezún and remains an icon of modern Spanish architecture. In the image we see the "Butacas Toros" designed by Miguel Fisac in 1955. The chairs are one of his most remarkable designs, reminiscent of the shape of bull's horns. It is a very low armchair, about 35 cm high, which is intended for reception and living areas.