Campana Brothers

The Campana Brothers are among Brazil’s foremost contemporary furniture designers. Inspired by their country’s vernacular culture, Humberto and Fernando Campana combine everyday objects in unexpected ways, often waste materials like rope, cardboard, plastic tubing, and aluminum wire, to make their singular creations. Their designs have been manufactured by such companies as Alessi, Swarovski and Cappellini. And they have received numerous honors, including being named Designer of the Year both at Design Miami in 2008, and by Maison & Objet in Paris in 2012.
Humberto Campana was born in Rio Claro in 1953 and earned a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of São Paulo. Fernando was born in 1961 in Brotas, and graduated from the São Paulo School of Fine Arts with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. The brothers started working together in 1983, crafting furniture using their signature method of adaptive reuse. Their pieces frequently refer to Brazilian social and cultural traditions and entities. Among these are the country’s favelas, or shantytowns, that have grown up around major cities. An homage to the resourcefulness with which the residents of São Paulo’s favelas make use of the materials at hand, repurposing cast-off objects in ingenious designs and constructions, their Favela armchair is made of cast-off strips of wood (the first one was made from discarded slats from a fruit market), which are glued and nailed together seemingly at random. The end result, however, is a compact, solid and well-proportioned chair.
By 1997, some of the Campanas’ pieces were being produced and sold in Italy, including the Edra Vermelha armchair, constructed of cord handwoven around a steel frame. In 1998, the brothers became the first Brazilian designers to have their work exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today their furniture is included in MoMA’s permanent collection and in those of numerous other major institutions, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Vitra Design Museum.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Campana Brothers chairs, case pieces and other furniture.
Early 2000s Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Velvet, Foam, Down, Feathers
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Brass
1990s Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Brass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Ash, Glass
2010s Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers
Cork
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Brass
Early 2000s Italian Other Campana Brothers
Aluminum, Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Organic Modern Campana Brothers
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Campana Brothers
Ash, Pine, Glass
1990s Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Organic Modern Campana Brothers
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Brass
2010s Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers
Cork
2010s Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Campana Brothers
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Campana Brothers
Stainless Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers
Cork
1990s Brazilian Post-Modern Campana Brothers
Aluminum, Iron
Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Campana Brothers
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Stainless Steel
2010s Nepalese Modern Campana Brothers
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Organic Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Brass
Early 2000s Campana Brothers
Rubber
2010s Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Ash
2010s Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s South American Minimalist Campana Brothers
Foam
Early 2000s Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Metal
Early 2000s Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers
Metal
Early 2000s Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Metal
2010s Czech Modern Campana Brothers
Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Campana Brothers
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Campana Brothers
Glass, Ash
2010s Indian Modern Campana Brothers
Wool, Wood
2010s Campana Brothers
Sheepskin, Wool, Wood
2010s Campana Brothers
Fur, Sheepskin
2010s Brazilian Campana Brothers
Bronze
2010s Campana Brothers
Bronze