São Paulo Carpet, Hand Knotted in Wool, 100 Kpi, Estudio Campana

The Campana Brothers were among Brazil’s foremost contemporary furniture designers. Inspired by their country’s vernacular culture, Humberto and Fernando Campana (b. 1953; 1961–2022) combined everyday objects in unexpected ways — often waste materials like rope, cardboard, plastic tubing, and aluminum wire — to make their singular chairs, decor, lighting and other items. Their designs have been manufactured by such companies as Alessi, Swarovski and Cappellini. And they 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 Campana 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 armchairs, case pieces and other furniture.

Nodus Project Nodus is a craft workshop with a cultural plan: the oldest traditions and knowledge in the art of carpet design are reinterpreted using the vision of the most innovating Designers and Architects, producing only unique pieces, promoting through events and publications in order to spread the knowledge to all about the new shapes and forms of a piece that has accompanied man since antiquity. Craftsmanship: Nodus has selected from the best producers in six countries of the world (Nepal, Pakistan, India, Turkmenistan, China and Turkey) visiting them one by one, verifying materials, techniques, expert craftsmen and ethical production. Each carpet from Nodus will be a unique piece, entirely made by hand, even including the packaging. The result is a collection of 60 carpets that outlines a new horizon of shapes and colours, a collection that unhinges borders and goes beyond the hand of reason. The spirit of the carpets is captured in dynamic and organic forms, like putting together a puzzle, assumes irregular profiles or takes inspiration from contemporary and everyday products such as fabrics, tablecloths, books and maps. All the rules are torn up, except one: The hand weaving, knot by knot. Whether you purchase or only appreciate the quality of a piece from Nodus, you can be assured that the carpet has been produced with the utmost respect, first and foremost for human rights, and the right to good working conditions and fair compensation.