Havaianas

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I first knew of Gerson Oliveira and Luciana Martins’ work when I assisted Guta Moura Guedes on the research for the &Fork book back in 2006. Their studio is called ,Ovo, and I had it on my São Paulo list from early on. I arrived at their Vila Olímpia address quite late in the day (7pm is actually night time in the Autumn), and managed to have a great chat with Gerson – Luciana said hi on her way from a meeting to a dinner.

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After meeting the Campanas at MAM we had a walk around the Ibirapuera Complex, went inside the Oca and Auditorium buildings and then got a cab to Unique, the fancy hotel designed by Ruy Ohtake. Paul stayed to talk to Ohtake, but I got picked up by Leo and we went back to Jardins. I needed to change my flight to Porto Alegre and Curitiba (yes) and get a Brazilian cellphone SIM card (no).

After walking down Óscar Freire street and catching the bus to Itaim Bibi (talk about three different São Paulos), I only managed to meet Rodrigo Almeida at his place well after 6h30pm. Rodrigo walked and talked me through some of his furniture work found in his living room, and then we sat down in two of his chairs and talked. For a really long time. I’m looking forward to seeing him again in Lisbon next month. Marca as passagens Rodrigo!

After a few days of Brazilian hardcore industrial design, it was great to switch gears and meet another kind of designer. First, a guided visit by Fernando and Humberto Campana to the show they curated, “Jardim de Infância” (Kindergarten) a selection of artworks from MAM’s, (the Modern Art Museum of São Paulo) collection. Humberto left for a dentist appointment, but after we visited the Burle-Marx retrospective I later had lunch at the museum’s great restaurant with some of MAM’s staff and also Paul Makovsky and Roberto Cocenza, who kindly arranged for our meet-up. Valeu Beto!

I won’t make it to Weil-am-Rhein for the Fernando and Humberto Campana 20-year retrospective, but its rich catalogue is already on its way to Lisbon. Looking forward to reading the essays from curator Mathias Schwartz-Clauss, Maria Helena Estrada, Massimo Morozzi, and Adélia Borges. Dezeen has a pretty comprehensive coverage of the show.