The Instituto Sergio Rodrigues pays tribute to the master of Brazilian furniture, who passed away in September 2014, with the Sergio Rodrigues, Six Decades of Design project. Actions carried out include the organization of the Sergio Rodrigues collection; the launch of the Institute's online catalog website containing part of the collection, and the Sergio Rodrigues - Brazil at the tip of a pencil biographical profile, researched and written by journalist Regina Zappa. In 2014, the Institute also launched, in partnership with the jeweler Antonio Bernardo, the "Mocho" pendant, a jewel that reproduces the iconic piece of furniture the designer created in 1954.
The inventor of a "Brazilian design," Sergio Rodrigues (1927-2014) completed 60 years of pioneering creations in 2014. Six decades of dedication to design, guiding what today we see as our unique identity in the world. In 1954, he designed the mythical "Mocho," a three-legged stool that would herald in the course of a great, unique, timeless, and genuinely Brazilian masterpiece. His last creation, in 2014, was the Benjamin chair.
Sergio Rodrigues is a master of Brazilian cultural production in so many ways that he is even confused with Brazil, Brasília, and Rio de Janeiro themselves, as well as with our international recognition. He created more than 1,200 pieces, many of which have become icons of our way of life, such as the "Mole" armchair. Throughout his life, he created and transformed his uneasiness in this furniture that is delightfully ours, always humorously, giving his objects unusual names, such as "Chifruda" (Horned), "Vronka", "Xibô," almost as if they were affective characters in a story that is common to us all in these tropics. This work, of unique consistency, is more than revealing of our culture: It is our culture itself translated into elements of furniture and housing.
