CITIZEN OF HONOUR

Zanini de Zanine

ECODESIGNER

DESIGNER ZANINI DE ZANINE CALDAS, AT AGE 38, EMBODIES A NEW GENERATION OF CREATORS CONCERNED ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND FINDING INSPIRATION IN THE PAST AS ABLY AS THEY SHAKE THEMSELVES FREE OF IT. A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH ONE OF THE HEIRS TO BRAZIL’S GREAT MODERNISTIC TRADITION.

By Guillaume Jan Photos Jean-Christophe Husson and Mickaël A. Bandassak

SEEING RED The BR chair in perforated sheet steel. Model produced especially for the Abbey of Design in 2013.

TEAM Z The designer’s staff of passionate and virtuosic cabinetmakers.

SALVAGE SPIRIT Recycled beams and boards are stored in the workshop in the Jacarepagua district in Rio’s West Zone.

TEMPERED LINES The Serfa chair in ipe wood and traditional leather (2015 collection).

EXPERIMENTAL Prisma, T and Cuca stools in ipe wood (2014 collection).

WHEN WE MET ZANINI DE ZANINE,THE OLYMPICS WERE ON THE STILL-DISTANT HORIZON, yet Rio thrummed with a bizarre, frenetic ambiance. “Did you notice this strange energy?” the designer asks as we drive to his design studio near the port in the Santo Cristo district. “The city is very active, with a strong business influence worldwide. But the many that’s starting to improve. But I find more advantages than beaches also create a kind of holiday atmosphere, a form of disadvantages, which is why I wouldn’t live anywhere else. relaxation that you don’t find in other Brazilian megacities, like The city is strangely endearing and the great social diversiSão Paulo or Brasilia. On weekends, I can go surfing just ty here generates extraordinary creativity. In fact, I’m a stone’s through from my house.” His car travels along the looking for a way to express this diversity, this sensuality, Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, beneath the unwavering gaze of this energy in the furniture and objects I make.” Christ the Redeemer perched 710 metres above us. The road is lined with modern architectural structures, backed by steep SPRINGBOARD hills that shape Rio’s majestic panorama. After passing At 38, with his magnetic gaze, movie-star mouth and through the André Rebouças tunnel, we must reduce our tattoos, Zanini de Zanine Caldas is one of the most dynamspeed and eventually come to a standstill, caught in one of ic figures of the new generation of Brazilian designers the infamous traffic jams that paralyse the city during rush – concerned about the environment, cognisant of his culhour. Three young men approach the car, one to sell us drinks, tural heritage, curious about the world and open to the “Rio’s great another to clean shield in exchange pled bank note, a the for a third windcrumto sell future. His streamlined creations are on display in all the major cities, he designs pieces for prestigious brands (a limited edition of chairs and benches in demolition wood social diversity us lottery “I like tickets. the resourcefulness for Cappellini, a lamp for Slamp, a stainless-steel armchair/ rocking chair/shelving ensemble for Tolix) and often repregenerates the Cariocas freedom you have, feel in and the the city,” sents his country at the contemporary design. Ta world’s glittering celebrations lented, affable, generous with of his extraordinary continues paradise: Zanini. the bay “Rio is no is polluted, time, Zanini, voted the 2015 Designer of &Objet Americas in Miami and recipient the Year at of several Maison internacreativity.” transportation is slow, violence is ever-present, though tional awards, springboard to says he was blessed launch his career: he with is the a rather singular son of architect, designer and sculptor José Zanine Caldas (1919-2001), whose tuned-in, intuitive creations were conspicuously influential in Brazil in the second half of the 20th century. “My father taught me to be exacting, demanding, to con-

FIVE TURNING POINTS FOR ZANINI

1978 Born in Rio de Janeiro. 2002 Earns a master’s degree in industrial design at Rio’s Pontifical Catholic University (PUC). 2003 Makes his first furniture during his internship year with designer Sergio Rodrigues. 2011 Founds Studio Zanini, bringing together his office, a design studio and a showroom. 2015 Voted Designer of the Year at the Maison & Objet Americas show.

THAT MAN FROM RIO Environmentally conscious and determined to keep evolving in his professional realm, the son of architect José Zanine Caldas has made a name (of his own) for himself.

tinuously strive to improve. He was born to a modest family and everything he ever had in life he owed to his work, his creativity. But he also endowed me with his taste for culture and his insatiable curiosity.” And it was in his father’s workshop that little Zanini designed and built his first models, wooden space shuttles and other toys, each more elaborate than the last, until he decided to make a vocation of it. He then studied industrial design at the prestigious Pontifical Catholic University of Rio (PUC) and, in 2003, pursued an internship with Sergio Rodrigues (1927-2014), one of the inventors of modern furniture in Brazil. There he designed solid wood furniture, one-of-akind pieces with simple, elegant lines, fashioned from old beams and other recycled items. Then he moved to the industrial manufacturing stage, designing series of tables, chairs or stools. Twelve years later, his studio is home to displays of other wooden tables and chairs designed “I love the sound of worked wood – its texture, with the same simplicity: “I love the sound of worked wood – its texture, its smell, its softness and warmth. This material has enormous presence in my life, beits smell, cause it so my father much. He used cared its softness about sues, environmental isabout preserving and warmth.” the ally rainforests, and impressed upon reme the need to use recycled wood whenever possible. Today, I mainly work with demolition wood. Or wood from replanted forests for my industrial productions.” Zanini de Zanine also recycles other materials, such as steel or plastic. “Extending the life of an object is also a way to take the pressure off the environment. The designer must assume his own responsibility with respect to the world’s wellbeing, since we have the capacity to produce long-lasting, non-polluting, sustainable articles that are kind to nature.”

DESIGN STAR

One floor above the showroom, we sit in a cosy Serfa chair in wood, leather and metal. A flagship piece the designer has marketed since 2015. He serves us a Fortissio Lungo, using his newly acquired Pixie Clips, while confessing to us that he’s only been drinking coffee for a year. “For a long time, I was convinced that I was too anxious, too wound-up to drink it. Today, though, I have no regrets about having started. I love the taste and it helps me pace my workdays.” He again tells of the intensity of his daily life as a rising design star – the constant back-and-forth between his studio near the Guanabara Bay and his workshop in Rio’s western suburbs, coupled with his many trips abroad. But the Carioca is keeping his feet on the ground as he rubs elbows with the stars, saying, humbly, “I still have a long way to go before I get to be as good as my father.” n

WHERE MIGHT YOU ENCOUNTER ZANINI IN RIO?

ESPÍRITO SANTA sj “This restaurant in the Santa Teresa district overlooking the bay specialises in traditional cuisine from the North. It has charming décor and warm, friendly service. ”

ABBEY OF DESIGN (AOD) sk “French designer and interior designer Chafik Benazzouz transformed this former convent into a magical space that’s well-known in the design community.”

BRASEIRO DA GÁVEA sl “To usher in the weekend, I like to drink a few chopps (light beers served well-chilled) with my friends in fun little bars like the Braseiro. ”

IRAJÁ GASTRÔ d0 “This townhouse with vintage décor in Botafogo features contemporary Brazilian cuisine.”