In a video interview, Rodrigues says his home is "full of prototypes," adding that he "takes chairs home to see if they work well, if wife likes them." He recalls that in the Bauhaus era, the cats and dogs would "climb up on chairs and slip right off," but playfully adds that in his house today, the pets sit comfortably. Espasso is the only retail space dedicated to showcasing and selling reissues of Rodrigues’ chairs, chests, lamps and tables.
Espasso founder and curator Carlos Junqueira, Rodrigues' close friend, is thrilled to be part of the renewed interest in Rodrigues' work, adding that the designer is responsible for creating a "distinctly Brazilian midcentury modern design vocabulary" that favors a more relaxed and playful aesthetic. The designer has worked closely with Oscar Niemeyer, as the latter's interior designer of choice for his buildings in Brasilia.Last month, Espasso opened a retail shop in West Hollywood, California, featuring a full range of Brazilian design master Sergio Rodrigues' furniture designs. His work represents Brazil in many ways – relaxed, comfortable, sensual and humorous, yet sophisticated and contemporary.Īmongst his well-known works are pieces of furniture designed for the Brazilian Embassy in Rome, for the UNB (Brasília University) and the Teatro Nacional (National Theater in Brasília). Rodrigues later set out on his own designing furniture, hotels, residences and notorious pre-fabricated dwellings. In 1955, Rodrigues opened the more established company Oca, which he referred to as ‘a laboratory for Brazilian furniture and handicrafts’ and became one of the most critical components in the evolution of furniture in Brazil. The designer graduated from the Faculdade Nacional de Arquitetura in 1952, and shortly after founded one of the first modern furniture and art stores in Curitiba. The piece informed by Rodrigues’ playfulness and wit, readily became associated with a typically relaxed Brazilian attitude and lifestyle. His iconic Mole armchair was an immediate success, comprised of jacaranda and upholstered cushions supported by leather straps. He became notorious for his use of robust woods like jacaranda, peroba and imbuia to create quintessential icons.
Indeed, he was responsible for establishing a new paradigm in design, setting himself apart with his very own language in his quest for a clearly recognizable Brazilian identity.
He has been dubbed the father of Brazilian furniture. Sergio Rodrigues was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1927 and died in 2014.
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