Havaianas

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Solitário necklace, Oiti for Ronaldo Fraga

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Arapuca Shelf, Rodrigo Almeida

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Pindorama vinyl tablecloths, Marcelo Rosenbaum

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Consul Washing Machine, Consul

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Bananaplac, Fibradesign

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flyers for Fernando Gabeira's campaign for mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Tátil Design

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ZigZag Hanger, Nódesign

Quará hangers, Nódesign

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Gadget Shelf, Bernardo Senna for Tok&Stok

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"Jalapa" Project, Piracema Design Lab

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Condiment Jars, O Imaginário for CIV

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Limited edition Lacoste polo shirt, Fernando and Humberto Campana

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Rendeira Lounge Chair, Flávia Pagotti Silva

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Ana Maria Queiroz de Andrade and Virgínia Pereira Cavalcanti are professors at the Federal University of Pernambuco and the founders of the Imaginário Pernambucano project. But that’s only the start. The project began in 2000 with the creation of the University’s Benfica Cultural Centre, aimed at strengthening ties between academia and society.

Since then, they have been promoting community initiatives that, stemming from folk art, work with and develop communities around the state of Pernambuco, of which Recife is the capital. If in terms of community design/craft development Imaginário’s projects may not seem to offer anything substantially new, it’s when we look at the wider scope of their action that we realise craft is only the start. Whenever they start a new project, Imaginário’s team gathers other university professors and students from areas such as engineering, planning and social sciences to tackle the community’s needs from as many angles as possible, in an integrated, sustainable way.Again, continuity is key: their project in Cabo de Santo Agostinho with a community of potters started in 2003, and Ana Maria estimates they should be working with them for at least one-and-a-half to two years. Imaginário’s main goal with each project is not only to experiment with new methodologies (after all, they are an education/research institution) but also to help communities to achieve a certain degree of economic self-sufficiency and improve their overall quality of life.

Another innovative side to Imaginário is their client-based work, which they use to balance their working budget – making them less reliant on the university’s finances – but also to employ their know-how and research in designs for local industries. In a state with little industrial production, product design is a remarkably restricted discipline. So their work with low-tech industries such as the CIV glassmaker to better design, manufacture and sell inexpensive houseware goods is quite outstanding.

Lately, Imaginário dropped the word Pernambucano from its name, aiming at a larger client base and to work in projects that go beyond its home state. Their work has also been widely presented in congresses and academic publications in Brazil and abroad, making their modus operandi an inspiration for many other educators, law makers, entrepreneurs and designers.