Zanini de Zanine is a designer with a particular focus on materials that he emphasizes with mastery. From solid wood to metal, from textiles to glass, his objects are strong, sculptural, and possess great character within a space. His cuts are sometimes sharp and precise, other times more sensual and rounded, but always poetic.

Zanini is a person who, in his apparent simplicity, is strongly charismatic. He is a cultured and generous individual, and his personality can be perfectly seen in his design objects, artworks, and even in his architectural works. Collaborating with Zanini has been beautiful, a deep and friendly experience, and I am sure that in the future we will have other opportunities to meet.

Well done, Zanini. Your discipline and passion are a beautiful testament to someone who loves design in all its forms!

"The greater the exchange, the better is the bigger the melting pot, the richer it is, it is not the object that counts but the project. The project essentially springs from a kind of healthy rivalry. Creativity is born of pleasure, enthusiasm and joy. The crazier you are, the more fun you have.

It is a great choice to have voted Zanini designer of the year — Maison et Objet Americas — 2015 obviously for his talent and his work but also because he represents South America. South America is a bomb, a peacefull bomb. It‘s going to be a creative explosion currently in South America , notably in Brazil, there is a massive amount of creativity. I work a lot in Brazil where i have several companies. You know, there is a real vital energy out there. It is of particular interest because it is based on joy, there is joy in Brazil.

They still practise a disappearing art, that of enthusiasm and effervescent joy. In the west we take things too seriously, is it in good taste? Is it this or that? Ee fret over cultural phenomena but they don‘t. Their country is very much a melting pot. As I said, from this intermix anything can grow and it will come from Brazil."

When I step into Espasso, the remarkable gallery of Brazilian mid-century and contemporary furniture in NYC, I am greeted by iconic works crafted by the country’s legends of design. Among these exceptional works of art, one designer’s creations consistently stand out to me like no other — Zanini de Zanine.

His designs embody the raw strength and enigmatic beauty of nature, expressed through forms that defy the conventional approach to furniture design in every way. At first glance, their bold simplicity commands your attention, but upon closer inspection, the materials and details reveal a deeper story. His pieces serve a need and stir emotions simultaneously.

Having been fortunate enough to spend time in Brazil throughout the years, Zanini’s work never fails to transport me back to those moments. Brazil is a place where art, sport, music, and nature effortlessly converge. In that way, I feel each piece crafted by Zanini de Zanine is a testament to the fusion of creativity and life itself.

On a New Year´s trip to Rio de Janeiro in the early 2010s, I got my first full-on exposure to Brazilian design. A heavy tome had just been published: Móvel brasileiro moderno. Between its heavy linen cover, its clean pages revealed a unique design ethos. Inside many pages present pieces using wood in a way that is impossible to imagine being made in Italy or Scandinavia. We’re talking vast specimens of rare or retrieved lumber shaped into steadfast furniture that in the West, would probably be made of concrete.

At whichever page the book might open, I found another piece showing how simplicity can intersect with a deep sense of identity. These buxom lumps of wood are unlike anything to be found north of the equator. They are in the tradition of two of my design heroes – Sergio Rodriguez, and Zanine Caldas. As things turned out, it was Caldas’ son Zanini that found me the book. And it was thanks to him that I could put a face to the phenomenon. As if part of Caldas’ trajectory as a designer, Zanini is very much his father’s son. Zanini has taken his father’s language and continued to evolve it. We met at his studio in Rio. I was impressed. And what a pleasure it is to see how many fine pieces have emerged from his studio over the 20 years covered by this book.

Amongst those on these pages, my entry level choice has to be the Serfa, an anthropomorphic study in human proportion and acrobatic tension. Its articulated limbs generate an outline that invites you to strike that same pose, if not in reality, at least in the mind.

Further down the line the classics reveal their true sculptural presence. Many of these imposing pieces are unique; they eschew production with their rarity of materials. When the occasional piece meets the production criteria of a big brand, they still retain something of their equatorial magia. If you want to understand this man’s work, look where the three circles outlined in this book – of space, of art, and of design – intersect. Spaces inform his objects and vice versa. Design informs his art and vice versa. And art informs his space and vice versa.

This design is his art. It comes from instinct, the jungle, the ocean, and from his Brazilian patrimony.

"Zanini is exceptionally committed to his work; I consider him one of the greatest Brazilian designers of the new generation. I am deeply impressed every time I see something by him. Those heavy furniture pieces (from his workshop) that he makes... he showed them to me in their design stage, but when I saw them now personally it is unbelievable, really something extraordinary that is going to be very successful abroad. HAIL BRAZIL!

He has his own path, a trail he is blazing, and I’m impressed. I was faithful to wood, but I’m envious of what he makes because he perceives what can arise out of a new element, a new raw material. He perceives it, and, based on that, he makes wonderful things! That armchair made from punched metal sheets discarded by the Brazilian Mint is a masterpiece. I am so enthused about it!"

"A creator who is not impressed by trends or influenced by passing vanguard movements. Zanini de Zanine designs from inside himself outward, to cite his words, “I do what is inside of me, which has to do with me.” Is it really that simple? His works reveal otherwise.

Plurality, lightness, freedom, the courage to experiment and a great deal of talent are what spring to mind when we look at the work of this young designer: already ten years into his career! And it could not be different. The son of José Zanine Caldas, a draftsman and creator of maquettes who learned architecture on the drawing boards of great masters of concrete… and became a pioneer in the design and construction of wooden residences. Trends, fashion, customer preferences were never his goals to be achieved. Freedom was always the word of order, from father to son: this is perhaps the greatest identity they both share.

Zanini grew up in a nomadic life moving from country to country, or city to city, always alongside his father. He never set down roots and when I asked him what his favorite toys were, he doesn’t remember any. “I would spend my days in my father’s workshop, that is where I played.” Born in Rio de Janeiro, where he lives, he is a Rio native with a surfer’s soul.

Contemporary design, as we know it in the 21st century, has shifted its focus, losing its formal concern to instead center on material and its possibilities. The form has become a consequence. Thus, Zanini admits that he does not make technical drawings or sketches. “My initial process is always very free, and I often begin with spontaneous rough sketches for industrial designs as well as artisanal ones…

Could we call it “emotional design,” a phrase that is currently in fashion? I don’t think so, because his designs reveal a well-tempered rationality, that defines and guides the lines. “When we use weathering steel or demolition wood, the process becomes even more linear, we go straight to the product, without studies. The pieces themselves are the studies.”

It’s worth noting that the wood used in Zanini’s works comes with a seal of guarantee: some comes from the maintenance of houses built by his father but no longer being used in them, such as a stairway built of solid ipê wood or a set of beams in peroba wood.

Injection-molded or rotomolded plastic, perforated screen, acrylic, stainless steel, upholstery, natural fiber, demolition wood, metal sheeting — these are the materials that this young designer — who is still called Zanininho [Little Zanini] by all his friends and teachers — has used in his works. It was with acrylic, in 2009, that he created the Gioco horse, produced by Componenti. He used discarded punched metal sheets from the Brazilian Mint as the raw material for the Moeda armchair, in 2010. Two playful, light, and good-humored products. In both, the design is just a simple line, which emphasizes and enhances the concept.

The year 2011 saw the release of the Trez armchair, crafted from sheet steel, and the Módulo 7, a stand made of injection-molded plastic that is an example of cleverness, grace, versatility, minimalist constructive lightness and economy of materials. All the virtues that a contemporary furniture piece should embody. A truly beautiful design, winning awards wherever it is presented.

In October 2011, a surprise! Architect Giulio Cappellini invited Zanini to collaborate with his company Cappellini Itália. This gave rise to the Inflated Wood design, whose very name conveys a sense of visual lightness. Zanini sees success on the international market as a clear indication of being on the right track, while in our view it reaffirms that Brazilian design is well accepted and highly prized in prestigious international collections.

Zanini is as exceptional as his father. Even more so, because he solves my labyrinth [referring to their collaboration on the installation Labirinto, 2015] by climbing his stairs [referring to the stairs/bench that Zanini designed for the Vergara studio] I go up a level. With elegance and simplicity he navigates through geographies and materials. A great ARTIST who, though young, has already left his indelible mark.

Zanini extracts a unique expression from a diversity of materials. Whether using raw or polished wood, metal sheeting or tubes, or ceramic or stone, his design understands the material and respects its essence. Angular lines predominate, and the discipline of design, which springs from his background as a designer, shines through even in his more artisanal pieces. He works on the border between art and design in a natural way, without pretense, following the natural bent of each project.

Zanine shaped Zanini. He looked into his son’s eyes. He dove deep. He stayed there for hours. And he watched him sprout wings that disregard abysses. At that moment, fully fledged, the winged being approached the edge of the ramp on the Pedra Bonita mountaintop and leapt over the cliff’s edge. On his inaugural flight, there in the heights, with a poet’s gaze, he saw architectural works that his father had planted on those slopes. Zanini de Zanine is the waters of March ending the austral summer, elevating his father’s experience above any other. The split paths of life, on the one hand scientific Eurocentrism, on the other, the path of magic to reveal the not-so-hidden secrets of Nature. Zanini de Zanine built — out of not just wood, but also iron, straw, plastic, aluminum, discarded sheets, and cut acrylic — the bridge that leads from one side to the other of what were previously irreconcilable shores. His work is a refined dialogue… it is the banter of the neighborhood bar… it is the ear pressed to the ground of the Botanical Park… it is the chirping of birds… it is the crashing roar of the ocean, on Niemeyer’ s rocky sloping seaside, wetting the fringes of Dois Irmãos mountain.

It is amazing to see Zanini de Zanine Caldas celebrating 20 years of his career. As I have watched him grow and expand his practice over the past two decades, I have admired his ability to maintain his unique style, which is now recognizable worldwide. From industrial design to fine art, one can immediately recognize Zanini’s distinct forms, shapes, and patterns. His works capture a connection between nature and technique, as he combines fluid and geometric lines through skilled craftsmanship and a conceptual vision.

When I think about the future of Brazilian design, Zanini’s sensuous, monumental works in wood immediately come to mind. Through this practice, Zanini embraces and extends certain traditions of Brazilian modern design grounded in a connection with the natural environment, an awareness and response to the preservation of the country’s landscapes, and a commitment to engaging with sustainable materials. In doing so, Zanini is able to reference the past but push design forward. He formalizes organic matter but in a way that is not strict; it still has the depth, heart, and passion of what I think great design is.

As Zanini enters this new chapter of his career, I see him ready to expand his reach and truly become a global voice.