Sergio Rodrigues

Sergio Roberto Santos Rodrigues (September 22, 1927 – September 1, 2014) was a Brazilian Carioca architect and furniture designer. Along with Joaquim Tenreiro and José Zanine Caldas, Rodrigues was a pioneer of Brazilian industrial design and played a key role in introducing it to international audiences. He studied at the Faculdade Nacional de Arquitetura da Universidade do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, enrolling in 1947 and graduating in 1951.

Early life and education Rodrigues was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1927. He graduated from the Faculdade Nacional de Arquitetura in 1952. After graduating, he worked on the Curitiba Civic Center project—an important example of modern Brazilian architecture—alongside architects David Azambuja, Flávio Régis do Nascimento, and Olavo Redig de Campos.

Career

Early Career While still a student, Rodrigues worked as an assistant professor to architect David Xavier de Azambuja. In 1951, Azambuja invited him to participate in the design of the Civic Center of Curitiba alongside architects Olavo Redig de Campos and Flávio Régis do Nascimento, through whom he first met Lúcio Costa, a relationship that would prove formative in his career. After graduating, Rodrigues moved to Curitiba, where he co-founded Móveis Artesanal Paranaense with the Hauner brothers. In 1954, the Hauners brought him to São Paulo to lead the interior architecture and design division of their new company, Forma S.A. During this period he encountered the work of various European designers and met figures including Gregori Warchavchik and Lina Bo Bardi.

Mole chair (1957) Rodrigues's most famous work is the "Mole" chair (1957)—also known as the Sheriff's chair—made in leather and wood with innovative upholstery techniques. The name mole means "soft" in Portuguese. In 1961, the chair was awarded first prize at the International Furniture Competition in Cantu, Italy, where it was praised for its quintessentially Brazilian approach to form and material. The Mole chair is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

Other notable designs

"Lucio Costa" dining chair (1956) "Chifruda" chair (1962) "Cuiabá" chair (1985) "Katita" chair (1997)

Design philosophy Rodrigues worked with furniture design in the Modernist tradition, bringing Brazilian identity to his projects through both design and the use of traditional materials such as leather, native woods like jacaranda, and rattan. He said in a 2008 interview: "I would say that my search was for materials that characterize Brazilianness: noble woods, straw that comes from India and then passes through Europe. I think that leaves something very characteristic behind."

Rodrigues died on September 1, 2014, in Rio de Janeiro, of liver failure, at the age of 86.