Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
The prolific architect and designer Sergio Rodrigues is often called the "father of modern Brazilian design," but it is the second adjective in that phrase that deserves emphasis: Rodrigues’s great achievement was to create furniture in a style that captured the spirit, character and personality of his country.
Modernity came slowly to 20th-century Brazil, politically and culturally. The nation finally realized genuine constitutional democracy in 1945, ushering in a new, progressive era in the arts. Until that time, heavy furniture based on historical European models had been the norm. In the late 1940s, designer Joaquim Tenreiro introduced sleek, minimalist chairs and cabinets; José Zanine Caldas, now best known for his later artisanal work, created plywood furnishings for mass-production; the Italian architect Lina Bo Bardi, a former editor for the Gio Ponti-founded magazine Domus, set up shop in São Paulo, designing elegant, flexible chairs set on slim metal frames.
This was the heady scene into which Rodrigues, the son of an artistically prominent Rio de Janeiro family, arrived after graduating in 1952 from the national university. He established Oca Industries in 1955, a company that would become the preeminent maker of modernist furniture in Brazil. When architects Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer were tasked in 1956 with the whirlwind project to plan, design and build the new capital, Brasília, in five years, they used Rodrigues’s early chairs, with their softly-contoured lines and caned seats and backrests, to furnish many of the buildings.
Rodrigues would realize the true expression of his talents in — and garner international awards and acclaim with — his Mole chair of 1957. The word mole means "soft" in Portuguese, but can be interpreted as "easygoing" or even "listless." Rodrigues's chair features a sturdy, generously proportioned frame of the native South American hardwood jacaranda, upholstered with overstuffed leather pads that flap like saddlebags across the arms, seat, and backrest. It is a chair that invites sprawling — perfect for the social milieu of the bossa nova and caipirinha cocktails; where a languorous afternoon spent chatting and joking is the apex of enjoyment.
Most of the estimated 1,200 armchairs, sofas, tables, storage cabinets and dining tables Rodrigues designed in his long career are imbued, in one way or another, with this air of robust relaxation. Sergio Rodrigues was a designer true to the temperament of his people.
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Velvet, Beech
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cane, Wood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cowhide, Hardwood
20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Jacaranda, Leather
1980s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Hardwood
20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Jacaranda, Leather
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Straw, Rosewood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Straw, Rosewood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cane, Hardwood
20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cowhide, Leather, Jacaranda, Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Straw, Rosewood
1960s British Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1970s Brazilian Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather
Early 2000s Brazilian Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Upholstery, Imbuia
Late 20th Century Brazilian Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cedar
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Rosewood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Rosewood
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Hardwood
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Faux Leather, Imbuia
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Jacaranda
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Wood
Early 2000s Brazilian Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Textile, Hardwood
Late 20th Century Spanish Brutalist Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Metal
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Jacaranda
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Upholstery, Rosewood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cane, Wood
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Jacaranda
20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cedar
1970s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Mahogany
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood, Leather
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood, Cane
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Wood
1950s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Sergio Rodrigues Chairs
Cane, Wood